CyberCertPrepSecurity FundamentalsCryptography FundamentalsEASYFree question
Why are passwords stored as hashes rather than in plaintext?
- A.If the database is breached, attackers cannot directly read the actual passwords
- B.Hashing makes passwords easier to recover
- C.Hashed passwords take up less storage space
- D.Hashing allows passwords to be shared between systems
Why A is correct
Storing passwords as hashes means that even if an attacker gains access to the database, they see only the hash values, not the actual passwords. Since hash functions are one-way, the attacker cannot simply reverse the hash to get the original password.
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