Security glossary

Short definitions of password and cryptography terms used across PassTip.

• Argon2 Argon2 is a modern password-hashing algorithm designed to be memory-hard against GPU cracking.
• Brute-Force A brute-force attack tries many password candidates systematically until one works.
• Diceware Diceware is a method for creating passphrases by rolling dice to pick words from a numbered list.
• Dictionary Attack Dictionary attacks try likely words, phrases, and common password patterns instead of pure random guessing.
• Entropy Entropy measures how unpredictable a password or passphrase is — higher entropy means harder guessing attacks.
• k-Anonymity k-Anonymity for breach checks means only a hash prefix is shared, so your full password never leaves the device.
• Passphrase A passphrase is a secret made of multiple random words — often easier to type than a dense random password.
• PBKDF2 PBKDF2 is a widely deployed key-derivation function that slows password hashing with many iterations.
• Pepper A pepper is a secret application-wide value added during password hashing, kept outside the database.
• Rainbow Table Rainbow tables are precomputed hash lookups that speed cracking unsalted password hashes.
• Salt A salt is random data mixed into password hashing so identical passwords do not produce identical hashes.
• SHA-1 SHA-1 is a cryptographic hash used by some breach corpora for lookups — not a modern choice for storing account passwords.