What is the primary purpose of hashing user passwords?

The primary purpose of hashing user passwords is to eliminate the transmission of plaintext passwords. When passwords are hashed before being stored or transmitted, they are transformed into a fixed-length string of characters that does not reveal the original password. This process prevents attackers from easily capturing and using plaintext passwords, even if they access the hashed data.

Hashing ensures that the actual password is not stored in a readable format, which significantly improves the security posture of the system. If a hashed password is intercepted during transmission or if a database is compromised, the hacker would only obtain the hashed version, making it much more difficult (though not impossible) to reverse-engineer the original password.

While user authentication is an indirect benefit of hashing, its primary function focuses on safeguarding the password itself by altering how it is stored and transmitted. Password complexity is related to the strength of the password itself rather than the process of hashing, and preventing users from retrieving their passwords is a design choice that enhances security but is not the main purpose of hashing.