What are the potential security risks of using outdated PHP functions like mysql_query?

Using outdated PHP functions like mysql_query can pose security risks such as SQL injection attacks, as these functions do not support prepared statements or parameterized queries. To mitigate these risks, it is recommended to switch to more secure alternatives like PDO or MySQLi which provide better security features.

// Using MySQLi to execute a query securely
$mysqli = new mysqli("localhost", "username", "password", "database");
$stmt = $mysqli->prepare("SELECT * FROM users WHERE username = ?");
$stmt->bind_param("s", $username);
$username = "admin";
$stmt->execute();
$result = $stmt->get_result();

while ($row = $result->fetch_assoc()) {
    // Process the results
}

$stmt->close();
$mysqli->close();