What are some best practices for securely storing user passwords in PHP?

Storing user passwords securely is crucial to protect user data from unauthorized access. One common best practice is to hash passwords using a strong hashing algorithm like bcrypt, which includes salting to add an extra layer of security. Additionally, it's important to never store passwords in plain text and to always use prepared statements to prevent SQL injection attacks. 

// Hash and store user password securely
$password = 'user_password';
$hashed_password = password_hash($password, PASSWORD_BCRYPT);

// Verify hashed password
if (password_verify($password, $hashed_password)) {
    echo 'Password is valid!';
} else {
    echo 'Invalid password.';
}

Keywords

password hashing password salting bcrypt password_verify password_hash

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