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Question 110 of 1,000

Trust and security with Google Cloud →mediumMultiple ChoiceObjective-mapped

Password Hashing with Salt: Irreversible Storage for Security

This GCDL practice question tests your understanding of trust and security with google cloud. The scenario asks you to isolate a root cause — eliminate options that address a different problem before choosing. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.

A company's application stores user passwords. Their security team says passwords must be stored as hashes, never in plaintext. They want to ensure this requirement is met even if a database is compromised. Why is password hashing (with salt) the correct approach?

Clue words in this question

Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.

Clue: "never"
Why it matters: Absolute qualifier. True only if the statement has zero exceptions — be cautious of options that seem obvious but break down in edge cases.

A
Hashing passwords allows the application to recover the original password when users forget it.
Why wrong: Hashing is one-way and irreversible — the original password cannot be recovered. 'Forgot password' flows send a reset link or OTP, not the original password, precisely because hashed passwords can't be reversed.
B
Hashing with salt makes stored passwords irreversible — even if the database is stolen, attackers cannot recover the original passwords without computationally intensive per-user brute force.
One-way hashing means compromised databases expose only hashes. Salting defeats precomputed attacks. Cracking each individually is computationally expensive, protecting users even after a breach.
C
Storing passwords as hashes allows sharing them between systems for single sign-on.
Why wrong: Password hashes are system-specific and cannot be used for SSO. SSO uses identity federation protocols (SAML, OIDC) with tokens, not password sharing.
D
Google Cloud automatically encrypts all database contents, making password hashing unnecessary.
Why wrong: Database encryption protects data from physical disk theft, but database users/admins with legitimate access can still read plaintext passwords. Application-layer hashing protects passwords even from authorized database administrators.

Full breakdown with real-world context →

Quick Answer

The answer is that password hashing with salt is the correct approach because it ensures stored passwords are irreversible, even if the database is compromised. Hashing transforms a password into a fixed-length digest using a one-way function, and adding a unique salt per user prevents attackers from using precomputed rainbow tables or cracking identical passwords in bulk. This means that even with the stolen hash file, an attacker must perform a separate, computationally intensive brute-force attack on each salted hash to recover the original password—making large-scale recovery impractical. On the Google Cloud Digital Leader exam, this concept tests your understanding of data protection fundamentals and the principle of defense in depth; a common trap is confusing hashing with encryption, which is reversible. Remember the memory tip: “Salt makes each hash a unique dish—no two passwords taste the same, even if the recipe is stolen.”

Answer choices

Why each option matters

Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.

Correct answer & explanation

✓

Hashing with salt makes stored passwords irreversible — even if the database is stolen, attackers cannot recover the original passwords without computationally intensive per-user brute force.

Password hashing with salt is the correct approach because it transforms passwords into irreversible digests. Even if the database is compromised, an attacker cannot recover the original passwords without performing a computationally expensive brute-force attack on each salted hash individually. This ensures the plaintext password is never stored or recoverable, meeting the security requirement.

Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.

Answer analysis

Option-by-option breakdown

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

✗
Hashing passwords allows the application to recover the original password when users forget it.
Why it's wrong here
Hashing is one-way and irreversible — the original password cannot be recovered. 'Forgot password' flows send a reset link or OTP, not the original password, precisely because hashed passwords can't be reversed.
✓
Hashing with salt makes stored passwords irreversible — even if the database is stolen, attackers cannot recover the original passwords without computationally intensive per-user brute force.
Why this is correct
One-way hashing means compromised databases expose only hashes. Salting defeats precomputed attacks. Cracking each individually is computationally expensive, protecting users even after a breach.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "never" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Storing passwords as hashes allows sharing them between systems for single sign-on.
Why it's wrong here
Password hashes are system-specific and cannot be used for SSO. SSO uses identity federation protocols (SAML, OIDC) with tokens, not password sharing.
✗
Google Cloud automatically encrypts all database contents, making password hashing unnecessary.
Why it's wrong here
Database encryption protects data from physical disk theft, but database users/admins with legitimate access can still read plaintext passwords. Application-layer hashing protects passwords even from authorized database administrators.

Common exam traps

Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword

The trap here is that candidates may confuse encryption (which is reversible) with hashing (which is one-way), or assume that cloud encryption alone satisfies the requirement, ignoring the application's own storage logic.

Detailed technical explanation

How to think about this question

A salt is a unique, random value appended to each password before hashing, ensuring that identical passwords produce different hashes. This defeats precomputed rainbow table attacks and forces an attacker to brute-force each hash separately. In practice, a strong hash function like bcrypt, scrypt, or Argon2 is used, which includes a work factor to slow down brute-force attempts, making recovery infeasible even with modern GPU clusters.

KKey Concepts to Remember

Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.

TExam Day Tips

Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.

Key takeaway

Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.

Real-world example

How this comes up in practice

A cloud solutions architect for a retail company is evaluating services for a new workload. The correct answer here reflects best practice for the specific scenario described — not a general cloud recommendation. Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option. Cloud exam questions reward reading the constraint carefully: the same technology can be right or wrong depending on the use case.

What to study next

Got this wrong? Here's your next step.

Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.

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FAQ

Questions learners often ask

What does this GCDL question test?

Trust and security with Google Cloud — This question tests Trust and security with Google Cloud — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..

What is the correct answer to this question?

The correct answer is: Hashing with salt makes stored passwords irreversible — even if the database is stolen, attackers cannot recover the original passwords without computationally intensive per-user brute force. — Password hashing with salt is the correct approach because it transforms passwords into irreversible digests. Even if the database is compromised, an attacker cannot recover the original passwords without performing a computationally expensive brute-force attack on each salted hash individually. This ensures the plaintext password is never stored or recoverable, meeting the security requirement.

What should I do if I get this GCDL question wrong?

Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.

Are there clue words in this question I should notice?

Yes — watch for: "never". Absolute qualifier. True only if the statement has zero exceptions — be cautious of options that seem obvious but break down in edge cases.

What is the key concept behind this question?

Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.

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This GCDL practice question is part of Courseiva's free Google Cloud certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the GCDL exam.