diff --git a/receivers/httpReceiver.go b/receivers/httpReceiver.go
index 27e94d9..c243e41 100644
--- a/receivers/httpReceiver.go
+++ b/receivers/httpReceiver.go
@@ -28,6 +28,11 @@ type HttpReceiverConfig struct {
 	// should be larger than the measurement interval to keep the connection open
 	IdleTimeout string `json:"idle_timeout"`
 	idleTimeout time.Duration
+
+	// Basic authentication
+	Username     string `json:"username"`
+	Password     string `json:"password"`
+	useBasicAuth bool
 }
 
 type HttpReceiver struct {
@@ -58,6 +63,8 @@ func (r *HttpReceiver) Init(name string, config json.RawMessage) error {
 	if len(r.config.Port) == 0 {
 		return errors.New("not all configuration variables set required by HttpReceiver")
 	}
+
+	// Check idle timeout config
 	if len(r.config.IdleTimeout) > 0 {
 		t, err := time.ParseDuration(r.config.IdleTimeout)
 		if err == nil {
@@ -65,6 +72,18 @@ func (r *HttpReceiver) Init(name string, config json.RawMessage) error {
 			r.config.idleTimeout = t
 		}
 	}
+
+	// Check basic authentication config
+	if len(r.config.Username) > 0 || len(r.config.Password) > 0 {
+		r.config.useBasicAuth = true
+	}
+	if r.config.useBasicAuth && len(r.config.Username) == 0 {
+		return errors.New("basic authentication requires username")
+	}
+	if r.config.useBasicAuth && len(r.config.Password) == 0 {
+		return errors.New("basic authentication requires password")
+	}
+
 	r.meta = map[string]string{"source": r.name}
 	p := r.config.Path
 	if !strings.HasPrefix(p, "/") {
@@ -100,11 +119,22 @@ func (r *HttpReceiver) Start() {
 }
 
 func (r *HttpReceiver) ServerHttp(w http.ResponseWriter, req *http.Request) {
+
+	// Check request method, only post method is handled
 	if req.Method != http.MethodPost {
 		http.Error(w, "Method Not Allowed", http.StatusMethodNotAllowed)
 		return
 	}
 
+	// Check basic authentication
+	if r.config.useBasicAuth {
+		username, password, ok := req.BasicAuth()
+		if !ok || username != r.config.Username || password != r.config.Password {
+			http.Error(w, "Unauthorized", http.StatusUnauthorized)
+			return
+		}
+	}
+
 	d := influx.NewDecoder(req.Body)
 	for d.Next() {
 
diff --git a/receivers/httpReceiver.md b/receivers/httpReceiver.md
index 873cf6d..affe1e4 100644
--- a/receivers/httpReceiver.md
+++ b/receivers/httpReceiver.md
@@ -10,7 +10,10 @@ The `http` receiver can be used receive metrics through HTTP POST requests.
     "type": "http",
     "address" : "",
     "port" : "8080",
-    "path" : "/write"
+    "path" : "/write",
+    "idle_timeout": "120s",
+    "username": "myUser",
+    "password": "myPW"
   }
 }
 ```
@@ -19,6 +22,9 @@ The `http` receiver can be used receive metrics through HTTP POST requests.
 - `address`: Listen address
 - `port`: Listen port
 - `path`: URL path for the write endpoint
+- `idle_timeout`: Maximum amount of time to wait for the next request when keep-alives are enabled should be larger than the measurement interval to keep the connection open
+- `username`: username for basic authentication
+- `password`: password for basic authentication
 
 The HTTP endpoint listens to `http://<address>:<port>/<path>`
 
@@ -28,7 +34,9 @@ The HTTP endpoint listens to `http://<address>:<port>/<path>`
 - Use curl to send message to `http` receiver
 
   ```bash
-  curl http://localhost:8080/write --data \
+  curl http://localhost:8080/write \
+  --user "myUser:myPW" \
+  --data \
   "myMetric,hostname=myHost,type=hwthread,type-id=0,unit=Hz value=400000i 1694777161164284635
   myMetric,hostname=myHost,type=hwthread,type-id=1,unit=Hz value=400001i 1694777161164284635"
   ```