Definition
Salting is a security technique that adds unique, random data to a password before it is hashed. This added random data, the salt, is stored alongside the hashed password. When a user attempts to log in, the system retrieves the salt, appends it to the entered password, and then hashes the combined string. This process ensures that even if two users have the same password, their stored hashes will be different, making rainbow table attacks much less effective. For example, if two employees use the password 'Password123', salting will generate two distinct hashes, preventing an attacker from using a precomputed table to crack both. Unlike simple hashing, salting requires the attacker to generate a unique hash for every possible salt, significantly increasing the computational effort needed for a brute-force attack. This concept is crucial for understanding password security and is frequently tested on certifications like CompTIA Security+ and CISSP.