What security measures should be taken to prevent sending user data unfiltered to the database in PHP applications?
To prevent sending user data unfiltered to the database in PHP applications, it is important to use prepared statements with parameterized queries. This helps to prevent SQL injection attacks by separating the SQL query logic from the user input data.
// Establish a database connection
$pdo = new PDO('mysql:host=localhost;dbname=database', 'username', 'password');
// Prepare a SQL query with a parameterized statement
$stmt = $pdo->prepare('INSERT INTO users (username, email) VALUES (:username, :email)');
// Bind the user input data to the prepared statement parameters
$stmt->bindParam(':username', $_POST['username']);
$stmt->bindParam(':email', $_POST['email']);
// Execute the prepared statement
$stmt->execute();