Blog posts tagged with 'md5':
Password hashing and salting
Date: 02 Feb 2011Tags: [ hash ] [ md5 ] [ nacl ] [ salt ] [ sha ] [ sodiumchloride ]
The thing everybody (should) know is that when you want to secure passwords in - let’s say - a database, you have to hash to them. It’s kind of a golden rule but is it safe enough? Ask a more experienced user and they probably tell you to add some salt. Ask the reason why and they will probably say “it’s because it makes the password longer and more secure”. Even though it is true in effect that using a salt increases the overall security of your hashes BUT it’s not only because your passwords are longer. There is a another (maybe even more important) factor that comes into play, namely the fact they are more secure against rainbow table attacks, but that depends on HOW you season your hashes. Season it incorrectly, and you gain nothing in security even though you think you did….