Bcrypt Password Hash Generator

What is Bcrypt?

Bcrypt is a password-hashing function designed by Niels Provos and David Mazières in 1999. Unlike general-purpose hash functions, bcrypt was specifically created for the secure storage of passwords. It's based on the Blowfish cipher and implements a computationally intensive hashing algorithm with an adjustable work factor.

Bcrypt remains one of the recommended password hashing algorithms for modern web applications and systems, even decades after its creation, due to its robust design and adaptability to increasing computational power.

How Bcrypt Works

Bcrypt employs several security measures that make it particularly effective for password hashing:

• Salt Integration: Bcrypt automatically generates and incorporates a random salt for each password, protecting against rainbow table attacks
• Adjustable Work Factor: The computational cost can be increased over time to counter advances in hardware
• Slow By Design: Bcrypt is deliberately computationally expensive, making brute-force attacks impractical
• Self-Contained Format: Each hash contains the algorithm version, work factor, and salt embedded within it

A bcrypt hash typically looks like: $2a$10$N9qo8uLOickgx2ZMRZoMyeIjZAgcfl7p92ldGxad68LJZdL17lhWy where:

• $2a$ indicates the bcrypt algorithm version
• 10 represents the work factor (cost)
• $N9qo8uLOickgx2ZMRZoMye is the salt
• IjZAgcfl7p92ldGxad68LJZdL17lhWy is the actual hash

Key Features of Our Bcrypt Tool

• Adjustable work factor (4-14) to balance security and performance
• Password hashing with automatic salt generation
• Option to specify a custom salt for advanced use cases
• Hash verification functionality to validate passwords
• Client-side processing (your passwords never leave your browser)
• Detailed information about the hash structure and work factor

Work Factor Explained

The work factor (also called cost factor) is a crucial parameter that determines how computationally intensive the hashing process is. It's represented as a number between 4 and 31, with each increment doubling the required computation time.

• Low work factors (4-6) are very fast but offer minimal security
• Medium work factors (8-10) offer a good balance for most applications
• High work factors (12+) provide maximum security but require more processing time

As hardware becomes faster, the work factor should be increased to maintain security. A general guideline is to choose a work factor that makes the hashing process take about 250-500ms on your server hardware.

Common Use Cases

• Secure password storage in web applications
• User authentication systems
• API keys and access tokens storage
• Password migration from less secure hashing algorithms
• Verification of user credentials

Security Best Practices

• Use a work factor of at least 10 for production systems
• Periodically review and increase the work factor as hardware improves
• Enforce strong password policies alongside secure hashing
• Consider implementing additional security measures like rate limiting and account lockouts
• For extremely sensitive applications, consider combining bcrypt with additional security layers

Bcrypt vs. Other Algorithms

While bcrypt is still considered secure, other modern algorithms have emerged:

• Argon2: The winner of the Password Hashing Competition, designed to be resistant to both CPU and GPU attacks
• PBKDF2: A key derivation function that applies a pseudorandom function multiple times
• scrypt: Designed to be more resistant to hardware brute-force attacks than bcrypt

For most applications, bcrypt remains a strong choice due to its proven track record, wide library support, and robust security properties.