Knowledge check

Password hashing & key derivation: PBKDF2, bcrypt, scrypt, Argon2

10 questions testing what you just read — no login, no tracking, just immediate feedback.

Question 1 of 10

Why is SHA-256 alone a poor choice for hashing passwords?

Question 2 of 10

What does salting a password specifically defend against?

Question 3 of 10

What makes Argon2 and scrypt more resistant to GPU/ASIC cracking than PBKDF2?

Question 4 of 10

What cipher is bcrypt based on, and since when has it been a de facto standard?

Question 5 of 10

What competition did Argon2 win in 2015, making it the generally recommended KDF for new systems?

Question 6 of 10

What three parameters can Argon2 independently tune?

Question 7 of 10

Which Argon2 variant is typically recommended, balancing GPU/ASIC resistance and side-channel resistance?

Question 8 of 10

How does HKDF differ in purpose from PBKDF2, bcrypt, scrypt, and Argon2?

Question 9 of 10

What is HKDF typically used for in real protocols, per the module?

Question 10 of 10

What tunable "cost" knob does PBKDF2 specifically use to slow down attackers?

0 / 10 answered