Should I / how do I protect source code from web host? [closed]

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Closed 7 years ago.

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Are you concerned at all with your web host having access to all of your files and being able to essentially download your entire web app? What steps can you take to protect yourself? More specifically, I am interested in knowing how to protect the custom developments I've made to a WordPress powered site?

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Are you concerned at all with your web host having access to all of your files and being able to essentially download your entire web app?

No.

What steps can you take to protect yourself?

None.

If you can't trust your web host, you're doomed and need to change providers immediately. It's impossible to protect a web site from the administrator(s) who maintain the server it runs on.

It's like if you are a business hiring a bookkeeper or sysadmin - they can't do their job if they don't have access to the company's financial records, or computer systems, respectively. You have to be able to trust that those people don't steal your company secrets.

I am interested in knowing how to protect the custom developments I've made to a WordPress powered site?

Not to put down the value of your work and all, but chances are nobody cares about them. There's a lot more to a custom development than having the code - you also need somebody who understands it and can work with it. I don't think code theft from commercial hosting platforms is much of an issue.

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You can encrypt your applications using various encryption engines such as Zend for PHP. Or you could always obfuscate your code before uploading it onto your web host.

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If you don't trust your webhost, don't use them.

It is impossible to secure code against an enemy who owns the hardware and has administrative permissions on the server.

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There is nothing you can do to stop your web host from being able to see your files. It's their server after all, and they have root access to it.

Generally, nobody cares about your shared-hosting site enough to go poking around in the code. Sorry, but it's true. If you get large enough that it matters, you'll be running your own servers which only you have access to.

The best defense against hosts that might do something sketchy is to look for reviews of the hosting, and solicit recommendations from friends and other trusted colleages.