User Authentication in Node.js using bcrypt & salt

Bcrypt & Salt ?

bcrypt is an algorithm for securely hashing passwords, and salt is a randomly generated value that is combined with the password before hashing to enhance security.

Together, they help protect user passwords from various types of attacks and ensure that even if two users have the same password, their hashed passwords will be different.

This makes it significantly more challenging for attackers to compromise user accounts.

Use bcrypt to hash and verify passwords with a salt :

• Install the bcrypt library if you haven't already:

  npm install bcrypt

• Require the bcrypt library in your Node.js application :

  const bcrypt = require('bcrypt');

• Hashing a password with a salt :

  const plaintextPassword = 'user_password'; // Replace with the actual user's password
  
  // Generate a salt (usually a random value)
  const saltRounds = 10; // Recommended number of rounds
  bcrypt.genSalt(saltRounds, (err, salt) => {
      if (err) {
          // Handle error
          return;
      }
  
      // Hash the password with the generated salt
      bcrypt.hash(plaintextPassword, salt, (err, hash) => {
          if (err) {
          // Handle error
          return;
          }
  
          // Store `hash` in your database for this user
      });
  });
  
  

• Verifying a password during user login :

  const enteredPassword = 'user_password'; // Replace with the password entered by the user
  const hashedPassword = 'hashed_password_from_database'; // Retrieve the stored hashed password from your database
  
  bcrypt.compare(enteredPassword, hashedPassword, (err, result) => {
      if (err) {
          // Handle error
          return;
      }
  
      if (result === true) {
          // Passwords match, user is authenticated
          console.log('Authentication successful');
      } else {
          // Passwords do not match, authentication failed
          console.log('Authentication failed');
      }
  });