What are the implications of using MD5() for password encryption in PHP databases? How does it differ from other encryption methods?

Using MD5() for password encryption in PHP databases is not secure because it is vulnerable to brute force attacks and rainbow table attacks. It is considered outdated and should not be used for storing sensitive information such as passwords. Instead, it is recommended to use more secure hashing algorithms like bcrypt or Argon2 for password encryption in PHP databases.

// Using bcrypt for password encryption
$hashed_password = password_hash($password, PASSWORD_BCRYPT);