What are the potential security risks associated with copying $_POST data into separate variables in PHP?

Copying $_POST data into separate variables in PHP can potentially introduce security risks such as SQL injection and cross-site scripting attacks if the data is not properly sanitized and validated. To mitigate these risks, it is important to always sanitize and validate user input before using it in your application.

// Sanitize and validate $_POST data before using it
$username = filter_input(INPUT_POST, 'username', FILTER_SANITIZE_STRING);
$email = filter_input(INPUT_POST, 'email', FILTER_VALIDATE_EMAIL);

// Use the sanitized and validated data in your application
// For example, insert into database
$stmt = $pdo->prepare("INSERT INTO users (username, email) VALUES (:username, :email)");
$stmt->bindParam(':username', $username);
$stmt->bindParam(':email', $email);
$stmt->execute();