In the HTTPS era, does front-end login still require MD5 encryption?

Front-end login security: Discussion on the necessity of MD5 encryption in the era of HTTPS

When building a front-end login system, many developers will consider whether they need to encrypt passwords using hash algorithms such as MD5. Especially today when HTTPS has become popular, this issue is worthy of in-depth discussion.

The answer is: In HTTPS environment, the front-end does not need to use MD5 encryption passwords.

The reason is the unidirectionality of MD5. MD5 converts arbitrary length inputs to fixed-length hash values, but cannot inversely deduce the original data. After the front-end uses MD5 encryption, the back-end can only save the hash value and cannot restore the password.

More importantly, this does not improve security. The man-in-the-middle attack can still intercept the transmitted MD5 encrypted password. Although it is impossible to log in directly, the attacker can use the rainbow table or brute force to try to restore the password. Therefore, front-end MD5 encryption is not only invalid, but also adds unnecessary complexity.

The best practice is: the front-end directly submits the account password to the back-end through the HTTPS secure channel. The backend uses a more secure hashing algorithm (such as bcrypt, scrypt or Argon2) combined with salting technology to store passwords to ensure security. The front-end only needs to be responsible for safe transmission of data and does not have to bear the responsibility for password encryption.

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