What are the potential security risks associated with using the $HTTP_GET_VARS array in PHP scripts?

Using the $HTTP_GET_VARS array in PHP scripts can pose security risks such as SQL injection attacks or cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerabilities if the data is not properly sanitized or validated. To mitigate these risks, it is recommended to use the $_GET superglobal array instead, which automatically sanitizes input data.

// Using $_GET superglobal array instead of $HTTP_GET_VARS to mitigate security risks
$value = isset($_GET['key']) ? $_GET['key'] : '';