What potential security risks are associated with using global variables in PHP functions like mysqli_connect()?

Using global variables in PHP functions like mysqli_connect() can pose security risks by exposing sensitive information such as database credentials to potential attackers. To mitigate this risk, it is recommended to avoid using global variables and instead pass the necessary information as parameters to the function. 

// Avoid using global variables in mysqli_connect() function
$servername = "localhost";
$username = "username";
$password = "password";
$dbname = "database";

// Connect to MySQL database using mysqli_connect() function
function connectToDatabase($servername, $username, $password, $dbname) {
    $conn = mysqli_connect($servername, $username, $password, $dbname);

    if (!$conn) {
        die("Connection failed: " . mysqli_connect_error());
    }

    return $conn;
}

// Usage example
$conn = connectToDatabase($servername, $username, $password, $dbname);

Keywords

security risks global variables PHP functions mysqli_connect() vulnerabilities

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