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);
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