hardMultiple ChoiceObjective-mapped
SSCP Practice Question: Is designing a system to store passwords securely
A security engineer is designing a system to store passwords securely. Which of the following is the most robust approach for password storage?
⚠ Common exam trap
ISC2 often tests the misconception that encryption (AES) is equivalent to hashing for password storage, but the trap is that encryption is reversible and introduces key management risks, whereas a proper password storage mechanism must be one-way and computationally expensive.
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
✓
Use bcrypt with a high cost factor
Bcrypt is the most robust option because it incorporates a salt to defend against rainbow table attacks and uses a configurable cost factor to deliberately slow down the hashing process, making brute-force attacks computationally expensive. Unlike general-purpose hashes like SHA-256, bcrypt is designed specifically for password storage and resists GPU-accelerated attacks by requiring significant memory and time per attempt.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Hash passwords with SHA-256
Why it's wrong here
SHA-256 is too fast and does not include a salt by default.
- ✗
Encode passwords with Base64
Why it's wrong here
Base64 is encoding, not hashing; it provides no security.
- ✗
Encrypt passwords using AES-256 and store the key separately
Why it's wrong here
Encryption is reversible; if the key is compromised, all passwords are exposed.
- ✓
Use bcrypt with a high cost factor
Why this is correct
bcrypt is slow and includes a salt, making it resistant to brute-force and rainbow tables.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This SSCP practice question is part of Courseiva's free ISC2 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 SSCP exam.