What are the best practices for securely handling user authentication in PHP?

To securely handle user authentication in PHP, it is important to use secure password hashing techniques, such as bcrypt, to store user passwords. Additionally, always use prepared statements or parameterized queries to prevent SQL injection attacks. It is also recommended to implement measures such as CSRF protection and session hijacking prevention to enhance security. 

// Example of securely handling user authentication in PHP

// Hash the user's password using bcrypt
$password = password_hash($_POST['password'], PASSWORD_BCRYPT);

// Use prepared statements to prevent SQL injection
$stmt = $pdo->prepare("SELECT * FROM users WHERE username = :username");
$stmt->bindParam(':username', $_POST['username']);
$stmt->execute();
$user = $stmt->fetch();

// Verify password using password_verify
if ($user && password_verify($_POST['password'], $user['password'])) {
    // Authentication successful
    $_SESSION['user_id'] = $user['id'];
} else {
    // Authentication failed
    echo "Invalid username or password";
}

Keywords

password hashing secure sessions CSRF protection two-factor authentication SQL injection prevention

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