SQL Injection and Cross-Site Scripting (XSS): Protecting Web Forms

Input fields on contact forms, search bars, and checkout gates are the primary entry points attackers use to inject malicious SQL commands or hijack user cookies.

1. Preventing SQL Injection with Prepared Statements

Never concatenate raw user input directly into SQL queries. Always use PDO parameterized queries where input values are treated strictly as isolated data parameters rather than executable SQL logic.

2. Preventing Cross-Site Scripting (XSS)

Always sanitize and HTML-encode user input before rendering it back onto the page, and enforce strict Content Security Policies (CSP) to prevent execution of unauthorized inline scripts.