Increasing the Strength of Hashed Passwords for Better Cyber Security

What Can Be Used to Increase the Strength of Hashed Passwords?

In the world of cyber security, one of the primary concerns is ensuring that passwords are securely stored. Hashing passwords is a common technique used to protect user data, but simply hashing passwords may not be enough to prevent them from being cracked by malicious actors.

To increase the strength of hashed passwords and enhance overall cyber security, several methods can be utilized:

1. Salt Your Passwords: Salting involves adding random data to the input of a hash function to ensure that even if two users have the same password, their hashed passwords will be different. This significantly increases the complexity for attackers trying to crack passwords.
2. Use Strong Hashing Algorithms: Utilize secure and modern hashing algorithms such as SHA-256 or bcrypt to hash passwords. These algorithms are designed to be computationally intensive, making it harder for hackers to crack passwords through brute force attacks.
3. Implement Key Derivation Functions (KDFs): KDFs like PBKDF2 or scrypt can be used to slow down attackers trying to crack passwords. These functions introduce a computational cost that makes it more time-consuming for hackers to decrypt passwords.

By employing these techniques, organizations can significantly enhance the strength of hashed passwords and bolster their overall cyber security posture.