How to Hash Passwords

In the realm of cyber security, one of the fundamental practices to safeguard sensitive information is hashing passwords. Hashing passwords is a crucial technique that converts a plain text password into a seemingly random sequence of characters. This makes it extremely difficult for cyber criminals to decipher and access the original password.

Steps to Hash Passwords:

1. Choose a Secure Hashing Algorithm: Select a strong hashing algorithm like bcrypt or SHA-256. These algorithms are designed to be resilient against brute force attacks.
2. Salt Your Password: Adding a unique salt to each password before hashing enhances security. Salting prevents attackers from using precomputed hash tables (rainbow tables) effectively.
3. Iterate the Hashing Process: Repeating the hashing process multiple times through iterations increases the complexity for attackers, making it more time-consuming to crack passwords.
4. Store Hashed Passwords Safely: Ensure that hashed passwords are securely stored in a database. It is essential to protect the hash values from unauthorized access.
5. Verify Hashed Passwords: When authenticating users, compare the hashed password stored in the database with the newly hashed password input by the user.

By following these steps, individuals and organizations can significantly strengthen their cyber defenses and protect sensitive data from unauthorized access.