PHP powers over 70% of all websites in server-side scripting. Global sites and platforms like Facebook, Yahoo, WordPress, Wikipedia, and others use PHP programming. With such massive popularity in the programming world, hackers are always on the move to attack PHP-powered sites and web apps.

As such, PHP security has become paramount for a massive audience. Here, we will discuss some popular attacks on PHP sites and how to tackle them.

4 Common PHP Security Threats & Ways to Prevent Them

The following are the most common PHP threats and ways to resolve them.

1.Cross-Site Scripting (XSS)

Under the cross-site scripting attack, the hacker injects an external script into the website's authentic code. Further, the hacker attains the power to send infected code to the end users. Successful XSS attacks power the hacker with vital data on cookies, sessions, and sensitive browser data.

Vulnerable code used in launching an XSS attack is:

$string = $_GET ['string']; echo $string;

You can prevent this attack by doing the following:

You must filter all incoming and outgoing data to prevent common XSS attacks. Leverage standards PHP functions like htmlentities(), utf8_decode() and strip_tags() Deploy strict naming conventions to distinguish between filtered and unfiltered data

2.Cross-site request forgery XSRF/CSRF

Unlike XSS attacks, the CSRF/XSRF attacks are more dangerous and allow the hacker to perform unwanted actions over the authentic site. The impact could get worse, and genuine users could face changes in email addresses, transfer of funds, and more.

Following is an example of a CSRF attack where GEt requests are transferring funds to another account:

GET ://mybank.com/transfer.do?acct=SAM&amount=100 /1.1

The hacker can modify the name and amount as follows:

//mybank.com/transfer.do?acct=RAM&amount=50000

Further, the hackers send you this URL via file, image, etc. Once you click on it, you will unknowingly lose large amounts.

The following PHP security steps help tackle XSRF/CSRF attacks:

Use POST in all forms instead of using GET. Strengthen your PHP security by implementing HTTPS Hide form attributes in all forms and populate them with randomly generated cryptic values for verification.

3.SQL Injection

In server-side scripting, any PHP development agency finds SQL injection the most brutal and common security attack. One potent query can impact the entire application in the worst possible ways. Successful SQL injection can compromise credit card details, credentials, etc.

An example of an insecure code snippet is given below:

$itemid = $_GET [‘item’]; $query = “SELECT * FROm items WHERE ITEMID = ‘$itemid’ ” ;

The attacker can send the query, which could get executed as below:

1 ‘+union+select+1,version(),4’

The query will be able to change the function as follows:

$query = “SELECT * FROm items WHERE ITEMID = ‘1 ‘+union+select+1,version(),4’ ’ ” ;

Similar scripts allow hackers to steal crucial personal data from innocent users.

You can prevent SQL injection in the following ways:

Prevent malicious data from entering your system by using prepper filters. Implement quotes in all values in SQL statements Deploy escape characters when writing functions

4.Session Hijack

Among session attacks, session hijacking stands as the most common one. It involves accessing the user's sessions. Once the attacker gains access to the user's session, they can perform all the vital functions the user can perform while logged in to the site. Thus they have been one of the most notorious attacks as they allow access to all users' functions for a significant amount of time.

Prevent session hijacking in the following ways:

Enable the site to verify a few or multiple details in the HTTP request and manipulate them to distinguish between genuine and fake users. Focus on fields that attackers will fail to generate, like user-agent, location details, browser information, matching them withhold data, etc.

Wrapping Up

That was all about the usual PHP threats and tips to prevent them. As many as 2,220 cyberattacks occur each day. The alarming rate of the rise of attacks depicts the necessity of using standard practices in web and app development projects. When building your web app, choose a Laravel development company that leverages up-to-date security practices.