What security concerns should be considered when handling user passwords in PHP scripts like the one provided?
Security concerns when handling user passwords in PHP scripts include storing passwords securely by hashing them using a strong hashing algorithm like bcrypt, using prepared statements to prevent SQL injection attacks, and ensuring that passwords are not stored in plain text in the code or database.
// Hashing the user password before storing it in the database
$password = $_POST['password'];
$hashed_password = password_hash($password, PASSWORD_DEFAULT);
// Using prepared statements to prevent SQL injection
$stmt = $pdo->prepare("INSERT INTO users (username, password) VALUES (:username, :password)");
$stmt->bindParam(':username', $_POST['username']);
$stmt->bindParam(':password', $hashed_password);
$stmt->execute();