What are the potential security risks of not using prepared statements in PHP when copying tables?

When copying tables in PHP without using prepared statements, there is a risk of SQL injection attacks. Prepared statements help prevent SQL injection by separating SQL code from user input. To mitigate this risk, always use prepared statements when copying tables in PHP.

// Connect to the database
$pdo = new PDO('mysql:host=localhost;dbname=mydatabase', 'username', 'password');

// Prepare the SQL statement with placeholders
$stmt = $pdo->prepare("INSERT INTO new_table SELECT * FROM old_table");

// Execute the statement
$stmt->execute();