What are the best practices for securely storing and handling user passwords in PHP applications?

To securely store and handle user passwords in PHP applications, it is recommended to use a strong hashing algorithm like bcrypt, store passwords in a secure database with proper permissions, and never store plaintext passwords. Additionally, it is important to use prepared statements to prevent SQL injection attacks and to regularly update PHP and server software to patch any security vulnerabilities. 

// Hashing user passwords using bcrypt
$password = 'user_password';
$hashed_password = password_hash($password, PASSWORD_BCRYPT);

// Verifying hashed password
if (password_verify($password, $hashed_password)) {
    echo 'Password is valid!';
} else {
    echo 'Invalid password.';
}

Keywords

password hashing password salting bcrypt password_verify password_hash

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