Salting Passwords
Adding "salt" to a password is another way to increase password strength. Salted passwords include random characters to improve security. The system administrator and database architect can work together to store and enforce the use of salted passwords. The added work is on the back end, so users can create passwords without needing to do anything special. Adding salt to a password adds a layer of security. From a tester’s perspective, there should be little difference when testing salted password fields; just be sure to check for performance slowdown on login, or errors when resolving passwords. A review of the data model or a conversation with your database administrator can let you know whether you’re working with salted passwords. (For more information on salted passwords, see the "References" section.)