SQL injection flaws are critical vulnerabilities that allow remote attackers to gain unauthorized access to databases, potentially enabling them to read, write, and delete data, as well as execute remote commands under certain conditions. A notorious example of this occurred in 2009 when Heartland Payment Systems suffered a breach that exposed 134 million credit cards due to an SQL injection attack. These attacks often exploit the lack of sanitization in user input used to construct SQL queries, allowing attackers to inject SQL syntax and manipulate the intended query, as illustrated by a vulnerable PHP/MySQL login scenario. The use of prepared statements is recommended as a defense against SQL injection, as they ensure the proper sanitization of SQL queries by substituting constant values for user input, thus preventing unauthorized query manipulation. Automated web security scanners like Detectify can help identify SQL injection vulnerabilities and other security issues, providing tools for organizations to protect their websites.