What is Salting?

  • Salting is a technique used to enhance the security of stored passwords
  • It involves adding a random string of characters, known as a salt, to the password before it is hashed
  • The salt is typically added to the password in a way that is unique to each user
  • The salt is then stored along with the hashed password, so that it can be used to verify the password in the future
  • The purpose of salting is to make it more difficult for an attacker to crack the password using precomputed tables of hashed passwords, known as rainbow tables
  • By adding a salt to the password, the attacker would need to compute a separate rainbow table for each unique salt, which would be computationally infeasible
  • Salting also makes it more difficult for an attacker to use a technique known as a “dictionary attack,” in which the attacker tries to guess the password by running through a list of common words and phrases
  • Overall, salting is an effective way to increase the security of stored passwords and protect against common types of attacks.

How is salting implemented in HR systems?

Salting is typically implemented in HR systems in the following way:

  1. A random string of characters, known as a salt, is generated for each user. The salt is unique to each user and should be stored securely.
  2. The salt is then added to the user’s password in a way that is unique to each user.
  3. The salted password is then hashed using a secure one-way hashing algorithm.
  4. The hashed password and the salt are stored in the HR system’s database.
  5. When a user attempts to login, the system retrieves the salt and the hashed password from the database. It then adds the salt to the user-provided password and hashes it.
  6. The system compares the newly hashed password to the stored hashed password. If they match, the user is granted access.

It’s important to note that salting should be done on the server side and the salt should be stored separate from the hashed password to prevent attackers from finding it.

What is the purpose of salting?

The primary purpose of salting is to enhance the security of stored passwords by making it more difficult for an attacker to crack them. Salting does this by adding a unique random string of characters, known as a salt, to each password before it is hashed. The salt is then stored along with the hashed password.

When an attacker attempts to crack a password, they typically use precomputed tables of hashed passwords, known as rainbow tables. These tables allow the attacker to quickly compare the hashed password they have obtained to a precomputed list of hashed passwords, to see if they can find a match. However, if the passwords are salted, the attacker would need to compute a separate rainbow table for each unique salt, which would be computationally infeasible.

Salting also makes it more difficult for an attacker to use a technique known as a “dictionary attack,” in which the attacker tries to guess the password by running through a list of common words and phrases.

Overall, salting is an effective way to increase the security of stored passwords and protect against common types of attacks such as rainbow table and dictionary attacks.