How can a PHP developer ensure the security of password change confirmation emails?

To ensure the security of password change confirmation emails, a PHP developer can implement measures such as using a secure email transfer method (e.g., SMTP with TLS), generating unique and time-limited confirmation tokens, and validating the token before allowing the password change process to proceed. 

// Generate a unique confirmation token
$token = bin2hex(random_bytes(16));

// Store the token in the database along with the user ID and expiration time
// For example, using PDO
$stmt = $pdo->prepare("INSERT INTO password_reset_tokens (user_id, token, expires_at) VALUES (:user_id, :token, :expires_at)");
$stmt->execute([
    'user_id' => $user_id,
    'token' => $token,
    'expires_at' => date('Y-m-d H:i:s', strtotime('+1 hour'))
]);

// Send the confirmation email with a link containing the token
$confirmation_link = "https://example.com/reset_password.php?token=$token";
$email_body = "Click the following link to reset your password: $confirmation_link";
// Send email using a secure method like PHPMailer or similar

Keywords

PHP password security email confirmation encryption secure coding

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