Are there any security concerns to consider when implementing user online status functionality in PHP applications?

When implementing user online status functionality in PHP applications, a security concern to consider is the potential for unauthorized access to user status information. To address this issue, it is important to properly authenticate users before displaying their online status. This can be achieved by verifying user credentials and permissions before retrieving and displaying their status. 

// Verify user authentication before displaying online status
session_start();

if(isset($_SESSION['user_id'])){
    // User is authenticated, retrieve and display online status
    $user_id = $_SESSION['user_id'];
    $online_status = getUserOnlineStatus($user_id);
    echo "User is currently $online_status";
} else {
    // Redirect unauthorized users to login page
    header("Location: login.php");
    exit();
}

function getUserOnlineStatus($user_id){
    // Retrieve user online status from database
    // Implement database query to get user online status
    return $online_status;
}

Keywords

SQL injection session hijacking cross-site scripting data validation encryption.

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