What is the purpose of input sanitization?

Input sanitization is a critical security practice aimed at cleaning user input to prevent the submission of malicious data that could compromise the integrity and security of an application. By properly sanitizing input, developers can mitigate risks associated with vulnerabilities such as SQL injection, cross-site scripting (XSS), and other attacks that exploit improperly validated input. This process involves filtering and validating incoming data to ensure that it conforms to expected formats and does not contain harmful elements. Effective input sanitization acts as a protective barrier against potential threats, ensuring that only safe and valid data is processed by the application, thereby safeguarding both the system and its users.

The other options do not address the primary intent of input sanitization. While input quality and user engagement may be improved indirectly through better security practices, they are not the primary focus of sanitization efforts. Enhancing software performance may be a goal in broader software development practices, but it is not directly related to input sanitization, which is specifically about security and data integrity.