What are potential security risks when accessing APIs in PHP and storing tokens in plain text?

Storing tokens in plain text poses a significant security risk as it allows unauthorized access to sensitive information if the tokens are compromised. To mitigate this risk, it is recommended to encrypt the tokens before storing them in the database. This adds an extra layer of security and ensures that even if the database is breached, the tokens remain protected.

// Encrypting and storing the token securely
$token = 'my_api_token';
$encryptionKey = 'my_secret_key';

$encryptedToken = openssl_encrypt($token, 'AES-256-CBC', $encryptionKey, 0, 'my_secret_iv');
// Store $encryptedToken in the database