What are some best practices for handling user sessions and login authentication in PHP?

One best practice for handling user sessions and login authentication in PHP is to use secure methods for storing and managing user session data, such as using PHP's built-in session handling functions. Additionally, it's important to properly sanitize and validate user input to prevent SQL injection and other security vulnerabilities. Implementing secure password hashing algorithms, such as bcrypt, is also crucial for securely storing user passwords. 

<?php
session_start();

// Validate user input
$username = $_POST['username'];
$password = $_POST['password'];

// Sanitize user input
$username = filter_var($username, FILTER_SANITIZE_STRING);
$password = filter_var($password, FILTER_SANITIZE_STRING);

// Check user credentials
if ($username === 'admin' && password_verify($password, '$2y$10$examplehashedpassword')) {
    $_SESSION['loggedin'] = true;
    echo 'Login successful!';
} else {
    echo 'Invalid username or password';
}
?>

Keywords

sessions authentication PHP security cookies

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