What is SQL Injection

[gilbertsavier]

SQL injection refers to the act of someone inserting a MySQL statement to be run on your database without your knowledge. Injection usually occurs when you ask a user for input, like their name, and instead of a name they give you a MySQL statement that you will unknowingly run on your database.
SQL Injection Example

Below is a sample string that has been gathered from a normal user and a bad user trying to use SQL Injection. We asked the users for their login, which will be used to run a SELECT statement to get their information.
MySQL & PHP Code:

// a good user's name
$name = "timmy";
$query = "SELECT * FROM customers WHERE username = '$name'";
echo "Normal: " . $query . "<br />";

// user input that uses SQL Injection
$name_bad = "' OR 1'";

// our MySQL query builder, however, not a very safe one
$query_bad = "SELECT * FROM customers WHERE username = '$name_bad'";

// display what the new query will look like, with injection
echo "Injection: " . $query_bad;

Thanks & Regards,
Lokananth