What potential security risks are associated with running PHP 5.6 instead of upgrading to a newer version?

Running PHP 5.6 poses significant security risks as it is no longer supported with security updates, leaving websites vulnerable to potential exploits and attacks. To mitigate these risks, it is highly recommended to upgrade to a newer version of PHP that is actively supported and receiving security patches.

// No code snippet provided as this is a general recommendation to upgrade PHP version