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Lesson 6: Salting

Teaching and Learning

Created on March 18, 2026

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Salting

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Byte Sized Tutorials. (2024, December 18). Password salting in 2 minutes: Strengthening security with hashing [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awYBrsVOz8E

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What is Salting?

  • Salting is the process of adding a random string of characters (a "salt") to passwords before hashing them to enhance security.
  • Purpose of Salting:
    • Protects against pre-computed attacks such as rainbow table attacks.
    • Ensures that identical passwords do not result in the same hash.

CyberWisdom. (2025, February 17). What is salting #cyber #cybersecurity #cybereducation #it #informationtechnology #hash [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/_6KLIiMpMPw

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Why Salting Matters

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Mitigates Hash Collsions
Prevents Rainbow Table Attacks
Individual User Protection
Enhances Security Against Brute Force Attacks
Increases Overall Password Security

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How Salting Works

Step 1 Create Password: Follow password best practicesStep 2 Generate Salt Computer: creates a pseudo-random string of characters Step 3 Concatenate Password and Salt: Computer appends or prepends salt to password Step 4 Hashing Process: Hashing algorithm is used on the concatenated password and salt Step 5: Storage: This hash is added to the password/hash database for future verification

This diagram illustrates the process of salting. Instead of storing a plain-text password, which would be easy for a hacker to read, or a simple hash, which can be cracked using pre-computed rainbow tables, salting adds an extra layer of defense.

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Salting – Knowledge Check

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Best Practices

Opt for modern, secure algorithms like bcrypt, Argon2, or PBKDF2 for hashing passwords.

Stay informed about the latest security practices and update systems accordingly.

Keep salts and hashes in a secure database, separate from other user data.

Ensure salts are long and generated using a secure random number generator.

Use this side of the card to provide more information about a topic. Focus on one concept. Make learning and communication more efficient.

Use this side of the card to provide more information about a topic. Focus on one concept. Make learning and communication more efficient.

Use this side of the card to provide more information about a topic. Focus on one concept. Make learning and communication more efficient.

Use this side of the card to provide more information about a topic. Focus on one concept. Make learning and communication more efficient.

Choose Strong Hashing Algorithms

Store Salts and Hashes Securely

Regularly Update Security Protocols

Use Unique, Random Salts

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Implement Rate Limiting: Prevent brute force attacks by limiting the number of login attempts.

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Real World Applications

Web Applications:E-commerce sites, social media, and online banking utilize salting to protect user passwords. Mobile Apps:Apps store user credentials securely by employing salting and hashing techniques. Enterprise Systems:Companies implement salting in their user authentication processes to secure sensitive data. Password Management Tools:Password managers use salting to ensure stored passwords remain secure. Compliance with Regulations:Salting helps organizations meet security standards (e.g., GDPR, PCI-DSS).

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For closed captioning or timestamps please go to youtube.

For closed captioning or timestamps please go to youtube.

Individual User Protection

Each user’s password is hashed with a different salt, preventing attackers from easily cracking multiple passwords at once.

Increases Overall Password Security

Salting is a critical step in securing passwords, making it much harder for attackers to retrieve original passwords from stored hashes.

Enhances Security Against Brute Force Attacks

Adds complexity and time to the hashing process, making brute force attempts more difficult.

Salting does not stop brute force attacks completely but it makes them much harder and slower. Hackers cannot use precomputed lists, instead of cracking many passwords at once, they must: Guess → hash with salt → compare Repeat for every single user

Prevents Rainbow Table Attacks

Unique salts ensure that precomputed hash tables (rainbow tables) are ineffective.

The image shows a rainbow table with a pre-made list of common passwords that links to hashed values for hackers to easily crack hashed passwords. Adding randowm salt values rendures these tables ineffective.

Mitigates Has Collisions

Different passwords generate distinct hashes, even if the same password is used across different accounts.

John S. and Zavier T. share the same hash value of 48993309, causing a hash collision. If salt was used even if John an Zavier have the same password, the random salt would cause a unique hash value eliminating this problem.