What are the best practices for handling user authentication and password storage in PHP?

When handling user authentication and password storage in PHP, it is important to follow best practices to ensure the security of user data. This includes storing passwords securely using hashing algorithms like bcrypt, salting passwords to add an extra layer of security, and using prepared statements to prevent SQL injection attacks. 

// Hashing and salting passwords for secure storage
$password = 'user_password';
$hashed_password = password_hash($password, PASSWORD_BCRYPT, ['cost' => 12]);

// Verifying a password
$entered_password = 'user_entered_password';
if (password_verify($entered_password, $hashed_password)) {
    // Password is correct
} else {
    // Password is incorrect
}

Keywords

password hashing password_verify bcrypt password_hash authentication

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