PHP 7
Some people are still using PHP 4 even though it has reached the end of its time and is no longer updated for security. Even PHP 5 has some of its versions dated too. Already there is testing being done by Rasmus Lerdord, the inventor of PHP, on PHP 7 although most servers aren't even using PHP 6. It is very hard to keep up, especially if you have many scripts that require updating. Has anyone used PHP 7?
PHP 7 Scalar Type Hinting Finally Approved
Scalar type hinting consists of declaring the types of function parameters and return values that can be of the types int, float, string and bool.
This allows the PHP runtime engine to check if the types of values passed to parameter functions and return values are of the expected types in order to detect eventual programming mistakes. Ref. Source 6
Google and Intel to Help PHP 7 to Become Faster and More Secure
Recently researchers from Google and Intel have approached the PHP core developers to offer to contribute to PHP development by implementing features that will make PHP fast and more secure. Ref. Source 5m
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) are a type of security attacks that may cause user accounts to be abused, so attackers can make users perform actions inadvertently in a vulnerable site and cause serious problems to the users and the sites.
There is a new proposal for PHP 7.1 to provide built-in semi-automatic protection against CSRF attacks, so it will be easier for PHP developers to protect the sites they develop against this type of exploit. Ref. Source 7l.