CompTIA CASP+ Practice Test

What advantage does key stretching provide during password hashing?

1. Increases the complexity of password recovery

2. Reduces storage requirements for hashed passwords

3. Decreases CPU usage during verification

4. Improves the speed of the hashing function

The correct answer is: Increases the complexity of password recovery

Key stretching is a technique used to enhance the security of password hashing. It works by taking a relatively weak password and applying a hashing function multiple times, which significantly increases the computational effort required to derive the original password from its hash. The primary advantage of key stretching is that it increases the complexity of password recovery attempts made by attackers. When an attacker tries to breach a system, they often rely on brute-force attacks or dictionary attacks to guess passwords. Key stretching makes these attempts more difficult because it requires additional computational resources and time to process each guess. As a result, even if the attacker has access to the hashed passwords, the time and effort needed to successfully recover the passwords are greatly enhanced. This added complexity serves as a deterrent, as it makes it less feasible for attackers to quickly guess or recover passwords, thereby improving the overall security of user accounts.