How can developers mitigate the risk of data breaches when verifying user credentials across multiple websites in PHP?

Developers can mitigate the risk of data breaches by using secure authentication methods such as hashing passwords before storing them in a database, implementing HTTPS to encrypt data in transit, and using multi-factor authentication. Additionally, developers should avoid storing sensitive user information such as passwords in plain text.

// Example of hashing passwords before storing them in a database
$password = $_POST['password'];
$hashed_password = password_hash($password, PASSWORD_DEFAULT);
// Store $hashed_password in the database

// Example of verifying hashed passwords during login
$password = $_POST['password'];
$stored_hashed_password = // Retrieve hashed password from the database
if (password_verify($password, $stored_hashed_password)) {
    // Password is correct
} else {
    // Password is incorrect
}