What are the best practices for handling user passwords in PHP applications to ensure security?

To ensure security when handling user passwords in PHP applications, it is best practice to store passwords securely by hashing them using a strong hashing algorithm like bcrypt. Additionally, always use prepared statements to prevent SQL injection attacks and never store passwords in plain text. 

// Hashing user password using bcrypt
$password = 'user_password';
$hashed_password = password_hash($password, PASSWORD_BCRYPT);

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

Keywords

password hashing bcrypt password_verify password_hash salting

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