What are the best practices for handling sensitive data like passwords in PHP scripts?

When handling sensitive data like passwords in PHP scripts, it is important to properly secure the data to prevent unauthorized access. One best practice is to never store passwords in plain text, but rather securely hash them using a strong algorithm like bcrypt. Additionally, it is recommended to use secure methods for transmitting and storing the data, such as using HTTPS for communication and storing passwords in a secure database. 

// Hashing a password using bcrypt
$password = "password123";
$hashed_password = password_hash($password, PASSWORD_BCRYPT);

// Verifying a password
$entered_password = "password123";
if (password_verify($entered_password, $hashed_password)) {
    echo "Password is correct!";
} else {
    echo "Password is incorrect.";
}

Keywords

password hashing secure storage encryption PHP security sensitive data protection

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