diff --git a/admin_debug.php b/admin_debug.php
index 5309b25e..8d15d408 100644
--- a/admin_debug.php
+++ b/admin_debug.php
@@ -9,10 +9,10 @@ require_once "config.php";
 $checks = [];
 
 // Execute the git command to get the latest commit hash
-$commitHash = exec('git log -1 --format=%H');
+$commitHash = shell_exec('git log -1 --format=%H');
 
 // Get branch info
-$gitBranch = exec('git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD');
+$gitBranch = shell_exec('git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD');
 
 // Section: System Information
 $systemInfo = [];
diff --git a/scripts/cron.php b/scripts/cron.php
index d87a0b9b..d88c2950 100644
--- a/scripts/cron.php
+++ b/scripts/cron.php
@@ -3,14 +3,17 @@
 // Set working directory to the directory this cron script lives at.
 chdir(dirname(__FILE__));
 
+// Ensure we're running from command line
+if (php_sapi_name() !== 'cli') {
+    die("This setup script must be run from the command line.\n");
+}
+
 require_once "../config.php";
 
 // Set Timezone
 require_once "../inc_set_timezone.php";
-
 require_once "../functions.php";
 
-
 $sql_companies = mysqli_query($mysqli, "SELECT * FROM companies, settings WHERE companies.company_id = settings.company_id AND companies.company_id = 1");
 
 $row = mysqli_fetch_array($sql_companies);
@@ -28,7 +31,6 @@ $company_currency = sanitizeInput($row['company_currency']);
 
 // Company Settings
 $config_enable_cron = intval($row['config_enable_cron']);
-$config_cron_key = $row['config_cron_key'];
 $config_invoice_overdue_reminders = $row['config_invoice_overdue_reminders'];
 $config_invoice_prefix = sanitizeInput($row['config_invoice_prefix']);
 $config_invoice_from_email = sanitizeInput($row['config_invoice_from_email']);
@@ -88,18 +90,11 @@ $config_stripe_expense_category = intval($row['config_stripe_expense_category'])
 $config_stripe_percentage_fee = floatval($row['config_stripe_percentage_fee']);
 $config_stripe_flat_fee = floatval($row['config_stripe_flat_fee']);
 
-$argv = $_SERVER['argv'];
-
 // Check cron is enabled
 if ($config_enable_cron == 0) {
     exit("Cron: is not enabled -- Quitting..");
 }
 
-// Check Cron Key
-if ( $argv[1] !== $config_cron_key ) {
-    exit("Cron Key invalid  -- Quitting..");
-}
-
 /*
  * ###############################################################################################################
  *  STARTUP ACTIONS
diff --git a/scripts/cron_certificate_refresher.php b/scripts/cron_certificate_refresher.php
index 76fd03a9..52fba4da 100644
--- a/scripts/cron_certificate_refresher.php
+++ b/scripts/cron_certificate_refresher.php
@@ -3,11 +3,15 @@
 // Set working directory to the directory this cron script lives at.
 chdir(dirname(__FILE__));
 
+// Ensure we're running from command line
+if (php_sapi_name() !== 'cli') {
+    die("This setup script must be run from the command line.\n");
+}
+
 require_once "../config.php";
 
 // Set Timezone
 require_once "../inc_set_timezone.php";
-
 require_once "../functions.php";
 
 
@@ -17,20 +21,12 @@ $row = mysqli_fetch_array($sql_settings);
 
 // Company Settings
 $config_enable_cron = intval($row['config_enable_cron']);
-$config_cron_key = $row['config_cron_key'];
-
-$argv = $_SERVER['argv'];
 
 // Check cron is enabled
 if ($config_enable_cron == 0) {
     exit("Cron: is not enabled -- Quitting..");
 }
 
-// Check Cron Key
-if ( $argv[1] !== $config_cron_key ) {
-    exit("Cron Key invalid  -- Quitting..");
-}
-
 /*
  * ###############################################################################################################
  *  UPDATE CERTIFICATE EXPIRY DATE
diff --git a/scripts/cron_domain_refresher.php b/scripts/cron_domain_refresher.php
index 441265eb..048dea54 100644
--- a/scripts/cron_domain_refresher.php
+++ b/scripts/cron_domain_refresher.php
@@ -3,34 +3,29 @@
 // Set working directory to the directory this cron script lives at.
 chdir(dirname(__FILE__));
 
+// Ensure we're running from command line
+if (php_sapi_name() !== 'cli') {
+    die("This setup script must be run from the command line.\n");
+}
+
 require_once "../config.php";
 
 // Set Timezone
 require_once "../inc_set_timezone.php";
-
 require_once "../functions.php";
 
-
 $sql_settings = mysqli_query($mysqli, "SELECT * FROM settings WHERE settings.company_id = 1");
 
 $row = mysqli_fetch_array($sql_settings);
 
 // Company Settings
 $config_enable_cron = intval($row['config_enable_cron']);
-$config_cron_key = $row['config_cron_key'];
-
-$argv = $_SERVER['argv'];
 
 // Check cron is enabled
 if ($config_enable_cron == 0) {
     exit("Cron: is not enabled -- Quitting..");
 }
 
-// Check Cron Key
-if ( $argv[1] !== $config_cron_key ) {
-    exit("Cron Key invalid  -- Quitting..");
-}
-
 /*
  * ###############################################################################################################
  *  REFRESH DATA
diff --git a/scripts/cron_mail_queue.php b/scripts/cron_mail_queue.php
index efc9fbf0..f5f0d9a5 100644
--- a/scripts/cron_mail_queue.php
+++ b/scripts/cron_mail_queue.php
@@ -3,11 +3,14 @@
 // Set working directory to the directory this cron script lives at.
 chdir(dirname(__FILE__));
 
-require_once "../config.php";
+// Ensure we're running from command line
+if (php_sapi_name() !== 'cli') {
+    die("This setup script must be run from the command line.\n");
+}
 
+require_once "../config.php";
 // Set Timezone
 require_once "../inc_set_timezone.php";
-
 require_once "../functions.php";
 
 $sql_settings = mysqli_query($mysqli, "SELECT * FROM settings WHERE company_id = 1");
@@ -16,27 +19,18 @@ $row = mysqli_fetch_array($sql_settings);
 
 // Company Settings
 $config_enable_cron = intval($row['config_enable_cron']);
-$config_cron_key = $row['config_cron_key'];
 $config_smtp_host = $row['config_smtp_host'];
 $config_smtp_username = $row['config_smtp_username'];
 $config_smtp_password = $row['config_smtp_password'];
 $config_smtp_port = intval($row['config_smtp_port']);
 $config_smtp_encryption = $row['config_smtp_encryption'];
 
-$argv = $_SERVER['argv'];
-
 // Check cron is enabled
 if ($config_enable_cron == 0) {
     error_log("Mail queue error - Cron is not enabled");
     exit("Cron: is not enabled -- Quitting..");
 }
 
-// Check Cron Key
-if ($argv[1] !== $config_cron_key) {
-    error_log("Mail queue error - Invalid cron key supplied");
-    exit("Cron Key invalid  -- Quitting..");
-}
-
 // Get system temp directory
 $temp_dir = sys_get_temp_dir();
 
diff --git a/scripts/cron_ticket_email_parser.php b/scripts/cron_ticket_email_parser.php
index 80008d75..2c534f7a 100644
--- a/scripts/cron_ticket_email_parser.php
+++ b/scripts/cron_ticket_email_parser.php
@@ -10,6 +10,11 @@ $script_start_time = microtime(true); // unComment when Debugging Execution time
 // Set working directory to the directory this cron script lives at.
 chdir(dirname(__FILE__));
 
+// Ensure we're running from command line
+if (php_sapi_name() !== 'cli') {
+    die("This setup script must be run from the command line.\n");
+}
+
 // Get ITFlow config & helper functions
 require_once "../config.php";
 
@@ -35,13 +40,6 @@ if ($config_ticket_email_parse == 0) {
     exit("Email Parser: Feature is not enabled - check Settings > Ticketing > Email-to-ticket parsing. See https://docs.itflow.org/ticket_email_parse  -- Quitting..");
 }
 
-$argv = $_SERVER['argv'];
-
-// Check Cron Key
-if ($argv[1] !== $config_cron_key) {
-    exit("Cron Key invalid  -- Quitting..");
-}
-
 // Get system temp directory
 $temp_dir = sys_get_temp_dir();