You have your opinion to express and i have mines.I still say ion sucks regardless of what figures you put out there.If I'm going to spend MY money on a program and the program is ion i will not purchase it. point blank..I'm not a coder and if i want to modify my board to suit me and unable to do so..then there's a problem because it's ion....Not everyone is going to steal a code to benefit them.

No one here is flipping there wig as you described we are all having a general discussion on this topic.:eek:

Ahh, its a southern expression. I'm sure kevcj will get it. I should have expected a yankee wouldn't understand that one. YE HAW! :D

All in good fun.

Ioncube is good to protect the source code, but it can be decoded easily.

If someone is insterestd I charge $7 per file to decode. For more volume pricing, please contact.
Contact me vis PM.

sure, by hand i can decode it by calling an error at the begining of the file and asking php to show the code... but that's not everybody who know that... ;)

Look Nexy has solved our problems.

Lets all pay him to decode our scripts! NEXY FTW! :up:

hum, Andrew, please, do not start making me a new reputation... lol...

IonCube Technology & How Encoding Can Secure Your Web Code



What is IonCube?

Quite simply IonCube is a software product packaged and sold by IonCube, a company based in the United Kingdom. The software is specifically designed to protect software or scripts written using the PHP programming language from being altered in any way. This means they cannot be viewed, changed, or run on unlicensed computers.

Before establishing IonCube, Nick Lindridge designed and developed ultra high performance order routing and exchange connectivity technology for one of the UK's leading market making firms that was later acquired by one of the major US financial institutions as a direct result of his involvement.

With more than 15 years experience in software development, operating systems, languages and compilers, database engine technology, and PhD research into innovative microprocessor design and system architecture for high performance object-oriented parallel-processing hardware, IonCube was formed and released in 2002. It has since become the industry standard solution for encoding software. It is used in over 70 countries around the world to encode PHP and protect software development, business information, and sensitive company data.

How does it work?

PHP scripts are uploaded and an encoded version downloaded in return. If you’re using a Linux operating system then a command line tool is used.

Benefits of IonCube

Quite often hackers can pirate programs and use them for nefarious purposes or worse, distribute your program to the world. The encoding IonCube provides protects you from hackers stealing your software and it cloaks it so that they can’t even see it.

Beyond the obvious fact that your code is protected, IonCube is said to run faster than open source PHP on some servers.

Encoded files run on a variety of operating systems

It allows users to encrypt XML files, Smarty template files, or images.

You can use the software to create license files that restrict access to encoded files

Users have their choice of ASCII or Binary encoded file format.

It allows for the prevention of file tampering by using digital signatures.

It is compatible with Open source extensions

It allows users to designate files to expire on a given date or after a time period

You can also restrict files from being run on any combination of IP addresses and/or server names or to run on specific MAC addresses.

IonCube is available for several operating systems including, Windows, Linux, FreeBSD and OS X.

An initial 12 months of support and product upgrades are included for FREE,

Product levels that range from entry level to Cerebus.

IonCube offers speedy encoding performance

Offers an easy to use Graphic User Interface, GUI, which makes using the product simple and straightforward for almost anyone.

Forum that enables you to connect with users and speak with moderators to have your questions and concerns addressed. http://forum.ioncube.com/

Membership services including information about upgrades, new products, and support.

Obfuscating HTML Encoder enables you to create a script to encode your website HTML so people cannot see your code. It also makes it impossible to copy your text or pictures, which means you won’t find your copy pasted into an article or sales page on someone else’s website.

The software is extremely secure and developers use several techniques to ensure that it is the most secure solution available. The techniques include: encoding compiled binary code rather than plain text source, using a secure execution engine at runtime, and implementing protection against reverse engineering into our products themselves.

Encoded files cannot be restored to their original source, which means that hackers simply cannot decode them – there is no source code to decode.

Excellent customer support. IonCube has a reputation in the industry of offering top notch customer service to their customers.

Other Products IonCube Offers

IonCube Online Encoder. This simple service enables you to encode a single file and can cost as little as .50. It is an extremely cost effective way to use the product and it give you the opportunity to explore the software without committing to the full product.

They also offer a Standalone Encoder for those that don’t want to purchase the full software package. This package comes with everything we’ve discussed in the article and cost $199

The IonCube Package Foundry offers users the ability to create remote web application installations. They also offer a free trial of this product so you can see if it is right for you. Like the encoder it offers the GUI interface.

Obfuscating HTML Encoder enables you to create a script to encode your website HTML so people cannot see your code. It also makes it impossible to copy your text or pictures protecting you from copyright infringement!

Its amusing... I looked at one of their encoded html pages it looked identical to the none encoded version. (Firebug ftw?) I suspect similar flaws will exist in the encoded php. Suffice to say; Ioncube is no use whatsoever.

I've tried encoded scripts and highly doubt I'll be using anything with ioncube ever again.