What are the potential security risks of using $_POST['pw'] for password authentication in PHP?

Using $_POST['pw'] directly for password authentication in PHP poses a security risk because it exposes the password in plain text in the request body, making it vulnerable to interception. To mitigate this risk, it is recommended to hash the password before sending it over the network. This way, even if the request is intercepted, the actual password remains secure.

$password = $_POST['pw'];
$hashed_password = password_hash($password, PASSWORD_DEFAULT);