What is the purpose of using WWW-Authenticate in PHP for securing an admin area on a website?

Using WWW-Authenticate in PHP allows for basic authentication to be implemented, which prompts users to enter a username and password before accessing a specific area of a website, such as an admin area. This helps secure the admin area by restricting access only to authorized users with valid credentials. 

<?php
$valid_username = 'admin';
$valid_password = 'password';

if (!isset($_SERVER['PHP_AUTH_USER']) || !isset($_SERVER['PHP_AUTH_PW']) || $_SERVER['PHP_AUTH_USER'] != $valid_username || $_SERVER['PHP_AUTH_PW'] != $valid_password) {
    header('WWW-Authenticate: Basic realm="Admin Area"');
    header('HTTP/1.0 401 Unauthorized');
    echo 'Access Denied';
    exit;
}

// Admin area code here
?>

Keywords

PHP WWW-Authenticate admin area website security authentication

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