diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 8e0da66e..a12cc9be 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -13,6 +13,8 @@ keys.dev.pub
 /app/icehrm.key
 /app/data/*.*
 /app/data/keys/*
+!/app/data/index.php
+!/app/data/.htaccess
 icehrm.key
 cache.properties
 node_modules/*
diff --git a/app/data/.htaccess b/app/data/.htaccess
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..ff2beb84
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/data/.htaccess
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+order deny,allow
+deny from all
diff --git a/app/data/index.php b/app/data/index.php
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..b3d9bbc7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/data/index.php
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+<?php