Passwords-How do they work on websites?
We are all
familiar with passwords. We have to use them at least once if we have to live
in this century. We rely on passwords to
protect a lot of things from social media accounts to bank accounts. Therefore
it is necessary to know how this security system works.
How (and where) are
passwords stored?
Perhaps one
of the most widely asked questions of all time. Imagine a Social Media website
like Facebook. If they stored the passwords in, suppose, a text file on the
server (or database), a hacker can easily steal it if they get access to the
server/database.
So, what do
they do?
They usually
code the passwords in a crypt called a “HASH”. Even if you managed to find the
Hash-ed password from the database, you cannot decode it to obtain the
password, because Hashes are one-way only.
Then how do the
websites know whether you typed the right password?
When you enter the password, the site converts
it back to the hashed form. Then it compares this hash with the previous hash
(formed from original password) and see if they match. If they match, you can
log in successfully. If not, then an error pops up saying “wrong password”.
Now, I hope
you understood how passwords work. If you want to know how passwords are
cracked by Hackers, read this post.
Thanks for
visiting,
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Cheers,
Nikhil
PS: I hope my style of explanation is clear
enough. If you have any doubts, comment below. (Or email me here)
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