How can PHP developers ensure the security of user login credentials and session data in their applications?
To ensure the security of user login credentials and session data in PHP applications, developers should use secure hashing algorithms like bcrypt to store passwords, always validate and sanitize user input to prevent SQL injection and cross-site scripting attacks, and use HTTPS to encrypt data transmission between the client and server.
// Using bcrypt to securely hash and store passwords
$password = "user_password";
$hashed_password = password_hash($password, PASSWORD_DEFAULT);
// Validating and sanitizing user input
$username = $_POST['username'];
$username = filter_var($username, FILTER_SANITIZE_STRING);
// Using HTTPS to encrypt data transmission
// Ensure your server is configured to use HTTPS