How effective is obfuscation in protecting PHP scripts from manipulation by external sources?

Obfuscation can be somewhat effective in protecting PHP scripts from manipulation by external sources by making the code harder to understand and modify. However, it is not a foolproof method and can be reversed by determined attackers. It is recommended to combine obfuscation with other security measures such as input validation and secure coding practices for better protection. 

// Example of obfuscation using base64 encoding
$original_code = '<?php echo "Hello, World!"; ?>';
$obfuscated_code = base64_encode($original_code);

// To decode and execute the obfuscated code
$decoded_code = base64_decode($obfuscated_code);
eval($decoded_code);

Keywords

obfuscation PHP scripts manipulation external sources protection

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