What are the best practices for securing image directories in PHP to prevent unauthorized access?

Securing image directories in PHP is important to prevent unauthorized access to sensitive files. One common way to achieve this is by placing an .htaccess file in the image directory with specific directives to restrict access. This can include denying access to all users except those with specific IP addresses or requiring authentication to view the images.

# Place this .htaccess file in the image directory to restrict access
# Deny access to the directory
Deny from all