how to encrypt passwords so that it cannot be easily cracked?

Question

I have used md5() for this purpose

// username and password sent from form 

$username=$_POST['myusername']; 
$password=$_POST['mypassword']; 
$encrypted_password=md5($password);

$sql="SELECT * FROM $tbl_name WHERE username='$username' and password='$encrypted_password'";
$result=mysql_query($sql);

But I heard that it is not safe. I'm a beginner so please suggest me a good password encryting method? also if post data was intercepted would it be visible as plaintext?

Use PHP's [password_*](http://www.php.net/manual/en/function.password-hash.php) functions — Mark Baker, Jan 18 '14 at 16:49
What about letting mysql handle the encryption? In general you can say that complex passwords are harder to crack, so try to set a policy that enforces strong passwords. — blissini, Jan 18 '14 at 16:53
If your not using HTTPS then yes the password is sent from the client in the clear. — Alex K., Jan 18 '14 at 16:53
Password hashing isn't your only problem. You also have an SQL injection problem. — Mike, Jan 18 '14 at 17:00

Shankar Narayana Damodaran · Accepted Answer · 2014-01-18T16:56:41.557

1

I'm a beginner so please suggest me a good password encryting method

Make use of crypt() instead of md5()

<?php
$hashed_password = crypt('mypassword'); // let the salt be automatically generated
if (crypt($user_input, $hashed_password) == $hashed_password) {
   echo "Password verified!";
}
?>

Some examples from the PHP Manual

also if post data was intercepted would it be visible as plaintext ?

Ofcourse! If you are really concerned about that, Get an SSL Certificate configured on your domain.

edited Jan 18 '14 at 16:56

answered Jan 18 '14 at 16:50

Shankar Narayana Damodaran

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dont knw much about ssl certificate....let me google it...anyway thanx for your effort – Akshay Jan 18 '14 at 17:21
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Warning: The usage of `crypt()` in this form, will generate an unsalted DES hash, which is very unsecure for hashing passwords! – martinstoeckli Jan 21 '14 at 08:21
Good Point.But that is far more secure than `md5()`. – Shankar Narayana Damodaran Jan 21 '14 at 08:32

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Jan 18 '14 at 16:51

1

In PHP 5.5 you could use the new password_hash

$hash = password_hash($password, PASSWORD_DEFAULT);

in older versions, there's a compatibility layer which do the same: https://github.com/ircmaxell/password_compat

answered Jan 18 '14 at 16:51

Philipp

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how to encrypt passwords so that it cannot be easily cracked?

2 Answers2