Translations:Installation security hints/35/en
From LimeSurvey Manual
Another way to secure this information can be to put the information from the /application/config/config.php file in a non-web directory, i.e. for Apache users this is the directory above the htdocs (also known as public_html or www) folder. Basically, you will use config.php, but have one line in it - a line that includes the file with ACTUAL configuration information (ex: <?php return include("/home/hostfolder/safedata/configreal.php"); ?>). Remove all actual configuration information from /application/config/config.php and paste it into the other file (configreal.php) that is mentioned in the /application/config/config.php file. This other file should be located in a non-web directory. Then, /application/config/config.php will not contain database passwords etc. - just the name of the file that DOES contain the database info.