What are the best practices for implementing security measures in PHP websites?

Issue: Implementing security measures in PHP websites is crucial to protect against common vulnerabilities such as SQL injection, cross-site scripting, and session hijacking. Best practices include using parameterized queries to prevent SQL injection, validating and sanitizing user input to prevent cross-site scripting, and using secure session handling techniques to prevent session hijacking. Code snippet:

// Prevent SQL injection using parameterized queries
$stmt = $pdo->prepare("SELECT * FROM users WHERE username = :username");
$stmt->bindParam(':username', $username);
$stmt->execute();

// Validate and sanitize user input to prevent cross-site scripting
$username = htmlspecialchars($_POST['username']);

// Use secure session handling techniques to prevent session hijacking
session_start();
session_regenerate_id(true);