There are many reasons now as a web designer,
software programmer or website owner that you may want to start
considering the safety of your HTML or PHP source code. Here you will
find out what the reasons are and what you can do about it.
Protecting your PHP and HTML Source Code
There are many reasons now as a web designer, software programmer or
website owner that you may want to start considering the safety of your
HTML or PHP source code. Some related reasons are:
1. Email Address theft – Have you ever wondered how
you get SPAM mail even though you’ve been super cautious NOT to
subscribe to anything, yet it still comes your way? One of the reasons
could be that you have your EMAIL link on a website. With email
harvesting software available (even for free trials) anyone can harvest
your email address right off your website automatically.
2. Picture Theft – Most average users are aware that
you can right-click pictures on a website and download them to their
own computer. It is common knowledge for most internet users and
webmasters.
3. Return URLs – For some credit card processing
companies (such as PAYPAL and EGOLD) it is possible to view the source
of web pages and look at the return (thanks for purchasing) page, where
you can directly go to the URL, click on the link to download the
software without paying for it
4. Website Layout - If a Webmaster likes your site,
they can save out the page (and structure) and edit it in their own
HTML editor software and claim the design layout for themselves
5. PHP Scripts - If you have a clever script (i.e.
written in PHP) and you need to send it to someone, they could easily
have a look at your PHP script to see how you did it. They can then
copy the code or re-write it slightly and call it their own Or use it
for their own PHP software and scripts.
These are just some of the reasons why you need to consider encrypting
your web pages or source code. Encryption of web pages and source code
is becoming more and more popular and in the future will become an
absolute necessity. We can now see a huge market (on the web) of HTML
encryption software that enables you to protect your source code from
prying eyes. Although HTML encryption is not 100% foolproof, it is
effective enough to keep out MOST users and acts as a good deterrent,
since not everyone has the time to decipher encrypted HTML source just
for the fun of it.
Fortunately, the technology for PHP Encryption is foolproof since it
works on the server side and cannot be tampered with. In the market,
there are now various PHP encryptors available (at varying prices) that
enable you to encrypt all of your source code (as well as your HTML
generated output ) so that it is virtually unreadable to humans, but
still functional to computers.
If you are a PHP developer and create your own scripts, then it is
absolutely vital that you make the decision to encrypt your scripts
before distribution. If you don’t, you run the risk of your code being
stolen, modified, emulated or copied. All it takes is one hacker or
experienced programmer to “Learn” from your code, make a few of their
own modifications and bring out their own “Version” of the software
under a different name. This can cause serious problems as well as the
problem of ruining your own market because you have contributed towards
creating a competitor.
If your script is exclusive or unique then you must encrypt your code
to protect your intellectual property. It’s like creating a secret
recipe on how to cook your favorite food dish, then posting your recipe
on the local supermarket’s notice board for everyone to see (sound
silly doesn’t it?). If you value your work at all, then you need to
seriously consider protecting and encrypting it!
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