What are the potential security risks of storing passwords directly in PHP files without encryption or hashing?

Storing passwords directly in PHP files without encryption or hashing poses a significant security risk as it exposes the passwords in plaintext, making them vulnerable to unauthorized access or theft. To mitigate this risk, passwords should be securely hashed using a strong hashing algorithm like bcrypt before storing them in the PHP file. 

$password = "myPassword123";
$hashedPassword = password_hash($password, PASSWORD_BCRYPT);

// Store $hashedPassword in the PHP file or database

Keywords

security risks passwords encryption hashing PHP files

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