In Defence of PHP - Stephen Rees-Carter - NDC Security 2023

Php Security

Learn about the often-maligned PHP and discover why it remains a popular language despite criticism. Explore its strong track record, modern security features, and benefits that make it a favorite among developers.

Key takeaways

PHP is still a popular language, despite what people may think
The rise of shared hosting made PHP easy to use and cheap, which led to its widespread adoption
PHP has two parts: the language itself, and the frameworks and tools built on top of it
PHP has a safety track record, with critical security issues being rare
The author loves PHP and thinks it’s often unfairly judged
There are many reasons why people might use PHP, including ease of use, low cost, and the ability to build complex applications quickly
Laravel is a great example of a PHP framework that provides a lot of security features out of the box
PHP has a strong focus on security, with features like auto-loading, CSRF protection, and JSON web tokens
Many modern PHP applications follow security best practices, such as separating front-end and back-end code
PHP’s simplicity makes it easy to get started, but also means it can be prone to mistakes
The author has experience cleaning up infected WordPress sites, and found that many of these sites were vulnerable due to out-of-date software or misconfigured security settings
PHP has a strong focus on updates and keeping software up-to-date, which helps to prevent security issues
The author thinks that PHP is often knocked for being “legacy” or “dead”, but it’s still widely used and has a strong community
PHP’s popularity means that there are many resources available for learning and troubleshooting, including a large number of third-party packages and plugins

In Defence of PHP - Stephen Rees-Carter - NDC Security 2023

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