What security measures should I take to protect against SQL injection attacks in my web application?
To protect your web application against SQL injection attacks, you should implement the following security measures:
1. **Sanitize User Input**: Always validate and sanitize user input by using parameterized queries or prepared statements.
2. **Input Validation**: Apply strict input validation and whitelist acceptable input formats or values.
3. **Least Privilege Principle**: Ensure that the database user account used by your application has limited privileges and permissions.
4. **Database Encryption**: Consider encrypting sensitive data, such as passwords and credit card numbers, in the database.
5. **Strict Error Handling**: Avoid displaying detailed error messages to users, which may provide attackers with valuable information.
6. **Regular Updates and Patching**: Keep your web application and database management system up to date with the latest security patches.
By implementing these security measures, you can significantly reduce the risk of SQL injection attacks.