In the context of PHP security, what measures should be taken to prevent script manipulation and potential injection of malicious code into PHP scripts?

To prevent script manipulation and potential injection of malicious code into PHP scripts, it is essential to sanitize user input, validate data, and use prepared statements when interacting with databases. Additionally, ensure that PHP configurations are secure and up to date to prevent common vulnerabilities.

// Example of sanitizing user input using PHP filter_var function
$user_input = $_POST['user_input'];
$sanitized_input = filter_var($user_input, FILTER_SANITIZE_STRING);

// Example of validating data to prevent script manipulation
if (preg_match('/^[a-zA-Z0-9]+$/', $sanitized_input)) {
    // Data is valid
} else {
    // Data is not valid
}

// Example of using prepared statements to prevent SQL injection
$stmt = $pdo->prepare('SELECT * FROM users WHERE username = :username');
$stmt->bindParam(':username', $sanitized_input);
$stmt->execute();