diff --git a/source/packages/com_mokosuitebackup/src/Engine/BackupEngine.php b/source/packages/com_mokosuitebackup/src/Engine/BackupEngine.php
index c4724de9..3d43533a 100644
--- a/source/packages/com_mokosuitebackup/src/Engine/BackupEngine.php
+++ b/source/packages/com_mokosuitebackup/src/Engine/BackupEngine.php
@@ -161,10 +161,20 @@ class BackupEngine
 				foreach ($filesToBackup as $relativePath) {
 					$fullPath = JPATH_ROOT . '/' . $relativePath;
 
-					if (is_file($fullPath) && is_readable($fullPath)) {
-						$archiver->addFile($fullPath, $relativePath);
-					} else {
+					if (!is_file($fullPath) || !is_readable($fullPath)) {
 						$skippedFiles++;
+						continue;
+					}
+
+					// Sanitize configuration.php — replace credentials with
+					// placeholders so backups are safe to store or transfer.
+					// MokoRestore prompts for these values during restore.
+					if ($relativePath === 'configuration.php') {
+						$sanitized = self::sanitizeConfiguration($fullPath);
+						$archiver->addFromString($relativePath, $sanitized);
+						$this->log('configuration.php sanitized (credentials replaced with placeholders)');
+					} else {
+						$archiver->addFile($fullPath, $relativePath);
 					}
 				}
 
@@ -494,6 +504,58 @@ class BackupEngine
 		}
 	}
 
+	/**
+	 * Sanitize configuration.php by replacing sensitive field values with
+	 * [SANITIZED:fieldname] placeholders. Non-sensitive fields (sitename,
+	 * debug, cache, SEF, etc.) are preserved as-is.
+	 *
+	 * @param   string  $path  Absolute path to configuration.php
+	 *
+	 * @return  string  Sanitized file contents
+	 */
+	public static function sanitizeConfiguration(string $path): string
+	{
+		$content = file_get_contents($path);
+
+		if ($content === false) {
+			return '';
+		}
+
+		// Fields whose values must be replaced with placeholders.
+		// Grouped by category for maintainability.
+		$sensitiveFields = [
+			// Database
+			'host', 'user', 'password', 'db',
+			// Security
+			'secret',
+			// SMTP
+			'smtpuser', 'smtppass', 'smtphost',
+			// Proxy
+			'proxy_user', 'proxy_pass',
+			// Redis
+			'redis_server_auth', 'session_redis_server_auth',
+			// Database TLS
+			'dbsslkey', 'dbsslcert', 'dbsslca',
+		];
+
+		foreach ($sensitiveFields as $field) {
+			// Match: public $field = 'value'; (single-quoted)
+			$content = preg_replace(
+				'/^(\s*public\s+\$' . preg_quote($field, '/') . '\s*=\s*\').*?(\';)/m',
+				'$1[SANITIZED:' . $field . ']$2',
+				$content
+			);
+			// Match: public $field = "value"; (double-quoted)
+			$content = preg_replace(
+				'/^(\s*public\s+\$' . preg_quote($field, '/') . '\s*=\s*").*?("\s*;)/m',
+				'$1[SANITIZED:' . $field . ']$2',
+				$content
+			);
+		}
+
+		return $content;
+	}
+
 	private function log(string $message): void
 	{
 		$this->log[] = '[' . date('H:i:s') . '] ' . $message;
diff --git a/source/packages/com_mokosuitebackup/src/Engine/MokoRestore.php b/source/packages/com_mokosuitebackup/src/Engine/MokoRestore.php
index 134c23fa..7134943b 100644
--- a/source/packages/com_mokosuitebackup/src/Engine/MokoRestore.php
+++ b/source/packages/com_mokosuitebackup/src/Engine/MokoRestore.php
@@ -258,31 +258,29 @@ function actionExtract(array $data): array
     $count = $zip->numFiles;
     $zip->close();
 
-    // Try to read existing configuration.php for pre-filling
+    // Try to read existing configuration.php for pre-filling.
+    // Sanitized backups contain [SANITIZED:field] placeholders — skip those.
     $existingConfig = [];
     $configFile = RESTORE_DIR . '/configuration.php';
 
     if (is_file($configFile)) {
         $content = file_get_contents($configFile);
 
-        if (preg_match('/\$host\s*=\s*\'([^\']*)\'/', $content, $m)) {
-            $existingConfig['db_host'] = $m[1];
-        }
+        $fieldMap = [
+            'host'     => 'db_host',
+            'db'       => 'db_name',
+            'user'     => 'db_user',
+            'dbprefix' => 'db_prefix',
+            'sitename' => 'sitename',
+        ];
 
-        if (preg_match('/\$db\s*=\s*\'([^\']*)\'/', $content, $m)) {
-            $existingConfig['db_name'] = $m[1];
-        }
-
-        if (preg_match('/\$user\s*=\s*\'([^\']*)\'/', $content, $m)) {
-            $existingConfig['db_user'] = $m[1];
-        }
-
-        if (preg_match('/\$dbprefix\s*=\s*\'([^\']*)\'/', $content, $m)) {
-            $existingConfig['db_prefix'] = $m[1];
-        }
-
-        if (preg_match('/\$sitename\s*=\s*\'([^\']*)\'/', $content, $m)) {
-            $existingConfig['sitename'] = $m[1];
+        foreach ($fieldMap as $phpField => $configKey) {
+            if (preg_match('/\$' . preg_quote($phpField, '/') . '\s*=\s*\'([^\']*)\'/', $content, $m)) {
+                // Skip sanitized placeholder values
+                if (strpos($m[1], '[SANITIZED:') === false) {
+                    $existingConfig[$configKey] = $m[1];
+                }
+            }
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/source/packages/com_mokosuitebackup/src/Engine/SteppedBackupEngine.php b/source/packages/com_mokosuitebackup/src/Engine/SteppedBackupEngine.php
index 81ba8bf6..2470708b 100644
--- a/source/packages/com_mokosuitebackup/src/Engine/SteppedBackupEngine.php
+++ b/source/packages/com_mokosuitebackup/src/Engine/SteppedBackupEngine.php
@@ -277,10 +277,19 @@ class SteppedBackupEngine
 		foreach ($batch as $relativePath) {
 			$fullPath = JPATH_ROOT . '/' . $relativePath;
 
-			if (is_file($fullPath) && is_readable($fullPath)) {
-				$zip->addFile($fullPath, $relativePath);
-				$added++;
+			if (!is_file($fullPath) || !is_readable($fullPath)) {
+				continue;
 			}
+
+			// Sanitize Joomla config — replace credentials with placeholders
+			if (basename($relativePath) === 'configuration.php' && dirname($relativePath) === '.') {
+				$sanitized = BackupEngine::sanitizeConfiguration($fullPath);
+				$zip->addFromString($relativePath, $sanitized);
+			} else {
+				$zip->addFile($fullPath, $relativePath);
+			}
+
+			$added++;
 		}
 
 		$zip->close();