Why is salt used in password hashing?

Why is salt used in password hashing?

Salt is used in password hashing to add randomness, making it harder for attackers to use precomputed tables (like rainbow tables) to crack passwords.

How does salt improve security?

By adding a unique salt to each password before hashing, even identical passwords will have different hashes, increasing security.

Can you give an example of how salt is applied?

Sure! When a user creates a password, a random salt is generated and combined with the password before hashing. This unique hash is then stored.

What happens if two users have the same password?

With salt, even if two users have the same password, their hashes will be different due to the unique salts, enhancing security.

Is there a downside to using salt?

The main downside is that it requires additional storage for the salt and can slightly increase the time needed for hashing.