What are the best practices for securing PHP scripts to prevent unauthorized access and manipulation by hackers in a download center application?

To prevent unauthorized access and manipulation by hackers in a download center application, it is important to implement proper security measures such as input validation, user authentication, and access control.

// Example code snippet for securing PHP scripts in a download center application

// Validate user input to prevent SQL injection and other attacks
$user_input = $_GET['file_id'];
$file_id = filter_var($user_input, FILTER_SANITIZE_NUMBER_INT);

// Authenticate users before allowing access to download files
session_start();
if (!isset($_SESSION['user_id'])) {
    header("Location: login.php");
    exit();
}

// Implement access control to restrict unauthorized users from downloading files
$allowed_user_roles = ['admin', 'premium_user'];
if (!in_array($_SESSION['user_role'], $allowed_user_roles)) {
    die("Unauthorized access");
}

// Code to download the file
// Add your file download logic here