In the world of cybersecurity, protecting your password is critical. With data breaches becoming more frequent, understanding how passwords are stored and how attackers attempt to crack them is essential for both individuals and organizations. This article breaks down password hashing, why it’s used, how hackers try to get around it, and what you can do to stay safe.
What Is Password Hashing?
When you create an account on a website—say, LinkedIn—you enter a username, password, and possibly other information like your name, age, and email. These details are stored in the website’s database. However, your password is not stored in plain text. Instead, it’s passed through a hashing algorithm like MD5 or SHA-256, and only the resulting hash is stored.
A hash is a long string of letters and numbers, and it’s the result of a one-way cryptographic function. This means that once the password is hashed, it’s nearly impossible to reverse the process and recover the original password. This is a key principle of security: even if a hacker gains access to a database, they won’t find plain-text passwords—just complex hashes.
Why Is Hashing Important?
Imagine a hacker breaches a website and accesses the user database. They might get user information like usernames, emails, and even addresses—serious enough on its own. But thanks to hashing, they won’t be able to immediately see anyone’s password. That’s because:
- Hashing algorithms are one-way functions.
- The original password cannot be extracted from the hash.
- Attempting to log in directly using a hash is useless.
When combined with multi-factor authentication (MFA), cracking an account becomes exponentially more difficult for an attacker.
So How Do Hackers Try to Crack Hashed Passwords?
If hashes are one-way, what options do hackers have? Unfortunately, quite a few. Let’s explore them.
1. Rainbow Tables
A rainbow table is a large collection of pre-computed hashes and their matching plain-text passwords. These tables contain millions of commonly used passwords and their hashed equivalents.
If someone uses a simple password like password123, its hash will likely appear in a rainbow table. Sites like crackstation.net allow you to input a hash and see if it matches any known entries.
However, if your password is complex, it’s unlikely to be found in a rainbow table—mitigating this method’s effectiveness.
2. Dictionary Attacks
In a dictionary attack, hackers use a file (wordlist) containing thousands or millions of common passwords. These lists are run against the target hash to find a match.
For instance, in Kali Linux, there is a wordlist directory under /usr/share/wordlists/. One of the most popular wordlists is rockyou.txt, which contains over 14 million password entries.
Using the wc (word count) command in Linux, you can view just how massive these lists can be. These dictionary files are used by tools like Hydra, John the Ripper, and others to automate cracking attempts.
3. Brute Force Attacks
Brute force is the most exhaustive method: trying every possible combination of characters until the correct password is found. While it’s extremely effective in theory, it can be time-consuming and resource-intensive—especially if the password is long and complex.
How to Protect Yourself from Hash Cracking
1. Use Complex Passwords
The simplest and most effective way to protect yourself is to avoid easy passwords like 123456, qwerty, or password. These are always the first to be tested in any attack.
Use a combination of:
- Uppercase and lowercase letters
- Numbers
- Symbols
- At least 12 characters
Consider using a password manager to generate and store strong passwords for every site.
2. Use Salting Techniques (For Developers and Organizations)
Salting is a technique used to further secure passwords. A salt is a random string of characters that is added to a password before hashing. The salt can be added at the beginning, middle, end, or even in multiple places.
Every company implements its own salting mechanism, which is stored separately and is unknown to outsiders. Once a password is salted and then hashed:
- The resulting hash is unique and
- It won’t appear in any rainbow table
Even massive wordlists would fail to crack these salted hashes unless the hacker also knows the salt—making the attack nearly impossible.
Conclusion
Hashing is a powerful tool in protecting passwords, but it’s not foolproof—especially if the original passwords are weak. Hackers use rainbow tables, dictionary attacks, and brute force methods to try and gain access to accounts. However, by using strong, unique passwords and enabling multi-factor authentication, you greatly reduce your risk.
For developers and organizations, implementing salting alongside hashing is essential in safeguarding user credentials.
Stay safe online. Use strong passwords. And always think like a hacker—so you can stay one step ahead.
Tags:
password security, hashing algorithm, md5, sha256, rainbow table, password hashing, brute force attack, dictionary attack, password cracking, salting, cybersecurity, kali linux, rockyou wordlist, password manager, cyber hygiene
Hashtags:
#PasswordSecurity #Hashing #CyberSecurity #MD5 #SHA256 #BruteForceAttack #DictionaryAttack #RainbowTables #Salting #KaliLinux #OnlineSafety
