Salt (cryptography)

In cryptography, a "salt" is a random value added to password hashes to enhance security. Its primary purpose is to protect against certain types of attacks, particularly pre-computed attacks like rainbow tables, where attackers use pre-computed hashes of common passwords to quickly crack them. Here's how salting works: 1. **Random Generation**: When a user creates an account or changes their password, a unique random value (the salt) is generated for that password.