When you enter your password online, the companies behind reputable websites will do a number of things in the background to ensure it is protected. These include hashing the password, using salted hashes and inefficient mathematical algorithms so that even if hackers do get your password data, it will be extremely difficult for them to crack it. But how do these security techniques work? Let’s find out.
We’ve often heard about using encryption to protect digitally stored data, including passwords. But there are additional methods that companies can use to make passwords more difficult to crack before they are even encrypted. DNews has given a top-level rundown of a few common techniques:
- Hashing: Applying a one-way algorithm to effectively scramble a password.
- Salted hashes: Adding random data to a hashed password to make it more difficult to crack.
- Key stretching: Slows down the hash calculations by using inefficient mathematical algorithms. This means it will take longer to crack a password.
DNews also goes into two-factor authentication. The video isn’t meant to be a comprehensive outline of the techniques but it does provide a good overview for those who are interested in learning more about how passwords are protected online.
Check out the video to find out more.
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