Password Storage Without KDF vs Bcrypt

Developers should avoid this practice entirely, as it exposes systems to significant security risks, especially in applications handling sensitive user data like banking or healthcare meets developers should use bcrypt when building applications that require secure user authentication, such as web apps, apis, or any system storing sensitive passwords. Here's our take.

Password Storage Without KDF

Nice Pick

Developers should avoid this practice entirely, as it exposes systems to significant security risks, especially in applications handling sensitive user data like banking or healthcare

Pros

• Instead, they must learn to use secure password storage techniques, such as bcrypt, Argon2, or PBKDF2, to protect against attacks and comply with regulations like GDPR or PCI DSS
• Related to: key-derivation-functions, bcrypt

Cons

• Specific tradeoffs depend on your use case

Bcrypt

Developers should use Bcrypt when building applications that require secure user authentication, such as web apps, APIs, or any system storing sensitive passwords

Pros

• It is particularly valuable in scenarios where password security is critical, like financial or healthcare applications, as it mitigates risks from data breaches by making password cracking infeasible
• Related to: password-security, cryptography

Cons

• Specific tradeoffs depend on your use case

The Verdict

These tools serve different purposes. Password Storage Without KDF is a concept while Bcrypt is a library. We picked Password Storage Without KDF based on overall popularity, but your choice depends on what you're building.

The Bottom Line

Password Storage Without KDF wins

Based on overall popularity. Password Storage Without KDF is more widely used, but Bcrypt excels in its own space.