What alternative methods can be used instead of the mail() function in PHP for sending emails securely?

Using the mail() function in PHP for sending emails can pose security risks, such as being susceptible to email injection attacks. To send emails securely, it is recommended to use a library like PHPMailer or Swift Mailer, which provide more secure methods for sending emails and offer features like SMTP authentication and encryption. 

// Example using PHPMailer to send emails securely
use PHPMailer\PHPMailer\PHPMailer;
use PHPMailer\PHPMailer\SMTP;
use PHPMailer\PHPMailer\Exception;

require 'vendor/autoload.php'; // Include PHPMailer library

$mail = new PHPMailer(true);

try {
    $mail->isSMTP();
    $mail->Host = 'smtp.example.com';
    $mail->SMTPAuth = true;
    $mail->Username = 'your@example.com';
    $mail->Password = 'your_password';
    $mail->SMTPSecure = PHPMailer::ENCRYPTION_STARTTLS;
    $mail->Port = 587;

    $mail->setFrom('your@example.com', 'Your Name');
    $mail->addAddress('recipient@example.com', 'Recipient Name');

    $mail->isHTML(true);
    $mail->Subject = 'Subject';
    $mail->Body = 'Email body content';

    $mail->send();
    echo 'Email sent successfully';
} catch (Exception $e) {
    echo "Email could not be sent. Mailer Error: {$mail->ErrorInfo}";
}

Keywords

PHP email security SMTP PHPMailer

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