Passwords

Introduction

Passwords are a tool we make use of every day in this digital age.

The thought of a website or hackers having access to your passwords can be a bit concerning. At one point or the other every single person who uses the internet has thought about this.

Have you ever pondered what happens behind the scenes once you create a password for a website?

In this article, we dive into the realm of password security and explore the less technical, more relatable processes of how passwords work and the adventure behind them.

The Foundation

Firstly, passwords are stored in a website’s database, but not as plain texts, rather, they go through a journey called hashing.

But before they reach this secure state, a series of essential processes are performed which help refine passwords so they can be stored in unique formats which are highly encrypted and secure. These processes are called salting and hashing.

Understanding Salting

Salting, the first key process in password storage, is a unique step that involves the addition of extra random characters like numbers, alphabets, or symbols to spice up your password, much like adding ingredients to a recipe.

Let’s imagine we’re making a pie. We would need flour, a couple of eggs, milk, and sugar. Picture your password as the main ingredient (the flour) and the salting process as the sweet addition of sugar, milk, and eggs, which in a more technical sense are characters.

For example, if your password is "PAssword1234", once it undergoes the salting process, it might turn into something like "PAssword1234@A#79".

It's like changing the taste of a dish by adding a secret ingredient.

Mixing It Up: The Art of Hashing

With our password suitably seasoned, it's time for the next step: hashing.

Hashing involves scattering, randomizing, or mixing up the new salted password characters.
It is like mixing up your pie ingredients, the flour(user password) and the eggs, milk, and sugar (salted characters) into a bowl to ensure they're well-blended and protected.

Hashing simply mixes up all the characters from the salted password together in a random order.

Recalling our examples:

User Password: "PAssword1234"

Salted Password: "PAssword1234@A#79"

After the hashing process, the password is transformed into something like "12Pwssa@37#od9rA4 ".

It becomes a secret code, ensuring your password stays safe.

Conclusion

In the end, the magical combination of salting and hashing transforms your passwords into coded recipes. A simple combination of text characters is turned into a complex, secure string protecting them from the prying eyes of cyber criminals and securing your online life.

While this process may seem simple in this article, it's very complex as some more technical processes like encryption are being performed. Also, the same way you can’t get your flour from a freshly baked pie, your password cannot be recovered as hashing is a one - way process which is what adds this robust layer of protection.

Therefore, as long as you are interacting with a website affiliated with a reputable organization and bearing the secure HTTPS domain, denoting the website's commitment to security, be rest assured, your password is safeguarded. This added layer of security acts as a valuable bonus, providing peace of mind in your online interactions.