What best practices should be followed when assigning and comparing values within an array in PHP, particularly in the context of decrypting data?

When assigning and comparing values within an array in PHP, particularly in the context of decrypting data, it is important to ensure that the values are properly sanitized and validated to prevent any security vulnerabilities such as injection attacks. One best practice is to use secure encryption algorithms and methods to encrypt and decrypt sensitive data. Additionally, always compare decrypted values using strict comparison operators to avoid any type juggling issues.

// Example of securely decrypting data from an array

// Assume $encryptedData is an array containing encrypted data
$decryptedData = [];

foreach ($encryptedData as $encryptedValue) {
    $decryptedValue = decryptData($encryptedValue); // Decrypt the value using a secure method
    $decryptedData[] = $decryptedValue;
}

// Compare decrypted values using strict comparison
if ($decryptedData[0] === $decryptedData[1]) {
    // Values are equal
} else {
    // Values are not equal
}