The Evolution of Passwords and Password Vaults
Passwords are ubiquitous in the digital age. We use them to log into our email, social media accounts, online banking, and many other services. However, with the number of online accounts we have today, it is almost impossible to remember all of our passwords. This is where password vaults come in. In this blog post, we will discuss the history of passwords, the role of hashing in password security, and how password vaults can help keep your online accounts secure.
A Brief History of Passwords
The exact origin of passwords is unknown, but some speculate that the first password was used at MIT when they created the first time-sharing system. However, it was not until the 1960s, with the advent of the Unix operating system, that passwords became widely used.
Fast forward to the late 1980s, when password theft became a major concern. Hackers were exploiting loopholes in the codebase of machines to steal passwords and gain unauthorized access to accounts. To combat this, the concept of hashing was introduced. A hash is a mathematical function that takes an input and produces a fixed-size output. In the context of passwords, the input is the password, and the output is a fixed-length string of letters and numbers. Hashing passwords makes it difficult for hackers to steal passwords, as they would need to reverse engineer the hash to obtain the original password.
The Role of Hashing in Password Security
Initially, hashing passwords was not foolproof, as hackers could use dictionary attacks to crack passwords. This is where they would use a list of commonly used passwords and their associated hashes to break into accounts. To prevent this, the concept of salting was introduced. A salt is a random string of letters and numbers that is added to the password before it is hashed. This makes it harder for hackers to use pre-computed hash tables, as they would need to generate a new hash table for each salt value.
There have been many other alternatives to hashing since its inception. Password-Based Key Derivation Function 2 (PBKDF2) is a popular alternative to hashing. PBKDF2 applies a pseudorandom function, such as hash-based message authentication code (HMAC), to the input password or passphrase along with a salt value and repeats the process many times to produce a derived key, which can then be used as a cryptographic key in subsequent operations.
Pass the salt
Salting is a technique used to enhance the security of password storage by adding random data to the passwords before hashing. The random data is called a “salt,” and it’s typically a random string of characters. By adding a salt to a password, you can make it much harder for attackers to guess or crack the password, even if they have access to the hashed passwords.
How does Salting work? Salting works by adding a random string of characters to the plaintext password before hashing it. This salt value is unique for each user, so even if two users have the same password, their salt values will be different, resulting in different hashed values. The salt value is then stored alongside the hashed password in a database. When a user tries to log in, their plaintext password is combined with the stored salt value, hashed, and compared to the stored hashed password.
Here’s an example of how salting works in Python:
import hashlib
import os
# Generate a salt value
salt = os.urandom(32)
# Get the plaintext password from the user
password = input("Enter your password: ")
# Add the salt to the plaintext password
salted_password = salt + password.encode("utf-8")
# Hash the salted password using SHA-256
hashed_password = hashlib.sha256(salted_password).hexdigest()
# Store the salt and hashed password in a database
store_in_database(username, salt, hashed_password)In this example, we first generate a random salt value using the os.urandom() function. Then we get the plaintext password from the user and add the salt to it. We use the encode() method to convert the password to bytes since the SHA-256 algorithm expects a bytes-like object. Next, we hash the salted password using the SHA-256 algorithm and store the salt and hashed password in a database.
When a user logs in, we retrieve their salt and hashed password from the database and perform the following steps:
# Retrieve the salt and hashed password from the database
salt, hashed_password = retrieve_from_database(username)
# Get the plaintext password from the user
password = input("Enter your password: ")
# Add the salt to the plaintext password
salted_password = salt + password.encode("utf-8")
# Hash the salted password using SHA-256
hashed_salted_password = hashlib.sha256(salted_password).hexdigest()
# Compare the hashed salted password to the stored hashed password
if hashed_salted_password == hashed_password:
print("Login successful!")
else:
print("Invalid password.")In this example, we retrieve the salt and hashed password for the user from the database. We get the plaintext password from the user and add the salt to it. Then we hash the salted password using SHA-256 and compare the resulting hash to the stored hashed password. If they match, the login is successful; otherwise, the password is invalid.
The Rise of Password Vaults
While hashing and salting have made passwords more secure, they still present a challenge for users. How do you remember a different, strong password for every account you have? This is where password vaults come in. A password vault is a software application that securely stores your passwords in an encrypted format. Instead of remembering dozens of unique passwords, you only need to remember one master password to access all of your passwords.
Password vaults use strong encryption algorithms to ensure that your passwords are protected. Some password vaults even have built-in password generators that create strong passwords for you, ensuring that you never have to use a weak password again.
There are many password vaults available today, both free and paid. Some of the most popular password vaults include LastPass, Dashlane, and 1Password. Most password vaults offer browser extensions or mobile apps, allowing you to access your passwords from anywhere, on any device.
Conclusion
Passwords are an essential part of our digital lives, but they present a challenge for users. Remembering dozens of unique, strong passwords is nearly impossible. Hashing and salting have made passwords more secure, but password vaults have taken password security to the next level. By using a password vault, you can store all of your passwords in a