I was reading this How secure is .htaccess password protection? and reviewing the fact that one of my sites has the .htpasswd file in a web facing directory.
But, if the permissions on a .htpasswd file are correct (644), can it be accessed at all via a browser or any other means?
I guess the real question is whether or not I should follow the advice and move the .htpasswd to /home/user
rather than /home/user/public_html