What are the Best Alternatives to mcrypt for Secure Password Encryption in PHP?

mcrypt: Obsolete and in Need of Alternatives

The mcrypt extension, once widely used for password encryption, faces imminent deprecation in PHP 7.2. This raises the question of finding a reliable alternative for securing sensitive data.

Criteria for Encrypted Passwords:

• PHP 7.xx compatibility
• Encryption strength
• Decryptability for password recovery

Recommended Alternatives:

Hashing:

• Strong encryption without decryptability. It's considered best practice to hash passwords to prevent unauthorized access or password recovery.

Encryption:

• Libsodium: A highly recommended PHP extension that provides secure encryption/decryption.
• defuse/php-encryption: A pure PHP implementation offering secure encryption alternatives.
• OpenSSL: A widely available encryption library that can be installed with PHP. However, it ranks below Libsodium and defuse/php-encryption in terms of security.

Implementation:

Refer to the linked resources in the provided answer for detailed guidance on implementing the recommended encryption techniques in your projects. By adopting these alternatives, you can ensure secure storage and retrieval of sensitive information in your PHP applications.

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