FC0-U71 Security Practice Question

Answer analysis

Option-by-option breakdown

For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.

• ✗

  To make the password longer and more secure

  Why it's wrong here

  Hashing produces a fixed-length digest, so it does not lengthen the password; length is irrelevant to its purpose. It is tempting because longer passwords resist brute-force guessing, but that is a property of the original credential, not the stored hash, and hashing's actual role is one-way verification.

• ✓

  To verify the password without storing it in plaintext

  Why this is correct

  Hashing is a one-way transformation, so the stored digest cannot be reversed to recover the original password. At login the system hashes the supplied password and compares digests, verifying authenticity without retaining plaintext. This satisfies the stem's requirement of verification without plaintext storage.

• ✗

  To compress the password to save storage space

  Why it's wrong here

  Hashes are fixed-length and often larger than short passwords, so storage savings do not occur; compression is reversible and would defeat the one-way property. It is tempting because hashing does reduce arbitrary input to a constant size, which resembles compression, but the goal is irreversible verification, not space efficiency.

• ✗

  To encrypt the password so it can be decrypted later

  Why it's wrong here

  Hashing is a one-way function with no decryption key, so the original password cannot be recovered; encryption is reversible by design. It is tempting because both transform data into unreadable form, but encryption suits data that must later be read, whereas password storage requires irreversible verification.