What are some common security risks to be aware of when using PHP?

One common security risk when using PHP is SQL injection, where attackers can manipulate SQL queries to access or modify data in the database. To prevent this, always use prepared statements with parameterized queries when interacting with the database. Example PHP code snippet using prepared statements:

// Establish a database connection
$pdo = new PDO("mysql:host=localhost;dbname=mydatabase", "username", "password");

// Prepare a SQL statement with placeholders
$stmt = $pdo->prepare("SELECT * FROM users WHERE username = :username");

// Bind parameter values to placeholders
$stmt->bindParam(':username', $username);

// Execute the prepared statement
$stmt->execute();

// Fetch the results
$results = $stmt->fetchAll();