diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 72144d7..6f64acc 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -564,6 +564,15 @@ server.serveStatic("/", SPIFFS, "/www/");
 server.serveStatic("/", SPIFFS, "/www/").setDefaultFile("default.html");
 ```
 
+### Serving static files with authentication 
+
+```cpp
+server
+    .serveStatic("/", SPIFFS, "/www/")
+    .setDefaultFile("default.html")
+    .setAuthentication("user", "pass");
+```
+
 ### Specifying Cache-Control header
 It is possible to specify Cache-Control header value to reduce the number of calls to the server once the client loaded
 the files. For more information on Cache-Control values see [Cache-Control](https://www.w3.org/Protocols/rfc2616/rfc2616-sec14.html#sec14.9)
@@ -757,6 +766,8 @@ ws.binary((uint32_t)client_id, flash_binary, 4);
 //send binary to all clients
 ws.binaryAll((char*)binary);
 ws.binaryAll((uint8_t*)binary, (size_t)len);
+//HTTP Authenticate before switch to Websocket protocol 
+ws.setAuthentication("user", "pass"); 
 
 //client methods
 AsyncWebSocketClient * client;
@@ -798,6 +809,8 @@ void setup(){
     // and set reconnect delay to 1 second
     client->send("hello!",NULL,millis(),1000);
   });
+  //HTTP Basic authentication
+  events.setAuthentication("user", "pass");
   server.addHandler(&events);
   // setup ......
 }
diff --git a/src/AsyncEventSource.cpp b/src/AsyncEventSource.cpp
index 7b8cdca..51166b2 100644
--- a/src/AsyncEventSource.cpp
+++ b/src/AsyncEventSource.cpp
@@ -229,6 +229,8 @@ bool AsyncEventSource::canHandle(AsyncWebServerRequest *request){
 }
 
 void AsyncEventSource::handleRequest(AsyncWebServerRequest *request){
+  if((_username != "" && _password != "") && !request->authenticate(_username.c_str(), _password.c_str()))
+    return request->requestAuthentication();
   request->send(new AsyncEventSourceResponse(this));
 }
 
diff --git a/src/AsyncWebSocket.cpp b/src/AsyncWebSocket.cpp
index b0c1a78..5c3cf5c 100644
--- a/src/AsyncWebSocket.cpp
+++ b/src/AsyncWebSocket.cpp
@@ -867,6 +867,9 @@ void AsyncWebSocket::handleRequest(AsyncWebServerRequest *request){
     request->send(400);
     return;
   }
+  if((_username != "" && _password != "") && !request->authenticate(_username.c_str(), _password.c_str()))
+    return request->requestAuthentication();
+
   AsyncWebHeader* version = request->getHeader(WS_STR_VERSION);
   if(version->value().toInt() != 13){
     AsyncWebServerResponse *response = request->beginResponse(400);
diff --git a/src/ESPAsyncWebServer.h b/src/ESPAsyncWebServer.h
index 535e387..ed45f3b 100644
--- a/src/ESPAsyncWebServer.h
+++ b/src/ESPAsyncWebServer.h
@@ -290,9 +290,12 @@ class AsyncWebRewrite {
 class AsyncWebHandler {
   protected:
     ArRequestFilterFunction _filter;
+    String _username;
+    String _password;
   public:
-    AsyncWebHandler(){}
+    AsyncWebHandler():_username(""), _password(""){}
     AsyncWebHandler& setFilter(ArRequestFilterFunction fn) { _filter = fn; return *this; }
+    AsyncWebHandler& setAuthentication(const char *username, const char *password){  _username = String(username);_password = String(password);};
     bool filter(AsyncWebServerRequest *request){ return _filter == NULL || _filter(request); }
     virtual ~AsyncWebHandler(){}
     virtual bool canHandle(AsyncWebServerRequest *request __attribute__((unused))){
diff --git a/src/WebHandlers.cpp b/src/WebHandlers.cpp
index 2326664..9276d4f 100644
--- a/src/WebHandlers.cpp
+++ b/src/WebHandlers.cpp
@@ -67,6 +67,7 @@ AsyncStaticWebHandler& AsyncStaticWebHandler::setLastModified(struct tm* last_mo
   strftime (result,30,"%a, %d %b %Y %H:%M:%S %Z", last_modified);
   return setLastModified((const char *)result);
 }
+
 #ifdef ESP8266
 AsyncStaticWebHandler& AsyncStaticWebHandler::setLastModified(time_t last_modified){
   return setLastModified((struct tm *)gmtime(&last_modified));
@@ -180,6 +181,8 @@ void AsyncStaticWebHandler::handleRequest(AsyncWebServerRequest *request)
   String filename = String((char*)request->_tempObject);
   free(request->_tempObject);
   request->_tempObject = NULL;
+  if((_username != "" && _password != "") && !request->authenticate(_username.c_str(), _password.c_str()))
+      return request->requestAuthentication();
 
   if (request->_tempFile == true) {
     String etag = String(request->_tempFile.size());