Password hashing is a process that uses a cryptographic algorithm to transform a plaintext password into a fixed-length, scrambled string that can’t be reversed back into the original text[1]. This means that when a user creates an account, the system runs their chosen password through a hashing function and stores only the resulting hash rather than the actual password, thereby protecting sensitive information from being easily exposed if the database is breached[1][2].
When a user later logs in, the system applies the same hash function to the entered password and compares it with the stored hash value; a match confirms the password is correct without ever revealing or retracing the original input[1][5].
To further protect against attacks such as brute-force, dictionary, and rainbow table attacks, additional security measures like salting and peppering are incorporated. A salt is a random string added to the password before hashing to ensure that identical passwords produce different hashes, while a pepper (a secret value) is often hardcoded into the system, making it even harder for attackers to reverse-engineer the original passwords[2][3].
Overall, password hashing is used to safeguard user credentials by ensuring that even if a database is compromised, attackers cannot easily derive the original passwords from the hashed values, thereby significantly enhancing security across applications and services[5].
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