Source Guardian introduction

Source Guardian is a program able to encode PHP scripts in a Windows interface and decode the encoded scripts on server without any change in the server configuration. Before making the purchase I downloaded the trial version to see how it works. You can download it also from www.sourceguardian.com, but several features are disabled in the trial version. Let’s describe the Windows encoding program first.

The Source Guardian encoder user interface is divided into four tab views, each corresponding to a step in the protection process. In the following section I will guide you through the whole process of creating a new protected project, commenting on each option as we go along.

Start a project with Source Guardian 1.5

The first step would be to select the files that you wish to protect. The file selection process is quite straight-forward. On the left panel of the main interface, there is a tree – view of the file system with links to the most common places where one would look for files: My Computer, My Documents and Network Neighborhood. There is also a history select box that allows you to jump to a specific location in the file system. You can choose between the existing file masks or you can add your own. You can add files independently or a whole folder at once. The crucial option at this point is to choose whether you want to replace the files with the protected version or to backup the original files into a folder of your choice. The later is the recommended option, and it really makes sense. If you choose to replace the files with the protected version (and you did not make a backup copy somewhere else), there will be no way to gain access to the unprotected version ever again. In my opinion, the problem is that the recommended option is not checked by default and it would be quite easy to mistakenly leave the replacement option checked, especially since the options are not displayed in a highly visible place on the interface screen. That could potentially lead to a disaster, so I recommend you to take your time when creating a protected project and double check the selections you have made. I know that most serious developers keep multiple copies of their software, but that’s something that Source Guardian developers should change in next releases.