What potential security risks can arise from blocking access to files using .htaccess?

Blocking access to files using .htaccess can potentially lead to security risks such as exposing sensitive information, allowing unauthorized access to critical files, and making the website vulnerable to attacks. To mitigate these risks, it is important to carefully manage the access control rules in the .htaccess file and regularly review and update them to ensure the security of the website.

# Example of restricting access to sensitive files using .htaccess
<FilesMatch "\.(htaccess|htpasswd|ini|phps|fla|psd|log|sh|inc|bak|config|sql|db)$">
    Order allow,deny
    Deny from all
</FilesMatch>