What are the best practices for securing scripts to prevent unauthorized access to database operations in PHP?

To prevent unauthorized access to database operations in PHP, it is important to implement proper security measures such as using prepared statements, input validation, and ensuring that only authorized users can access the scripts.

// Example code snippet to secure scripts and prevent unauthorized access to database operations

// Check if user is authenticated before allowing database operations
session_start();
if(!isset($_SESSION['user_id'])) {
    die('Unauthorized access');
}

// Connect to the database using PDO and prepared statements
$pdo = new PDO('mysql:host=localhost;dbname=mydatabase', 'username', 'password');
$stmt = $pdo->prepare('SELECT * FROM users WHERE id = :id');
$stmt->bindParam(':id', $_SESSION['user_id']);
$stmt->execute();
$user = $stmt->fetch();

// Perform database operations only if user is authorized
if($user) {
    // Perform database operations here
} else {
    die('Unauthorized access');
}