TECHNICAL GLOSSARY · STANDARDS DEFINITION · VERIFIED 2026-11-10
PBKDF2
Authoritative Definition
Password-Based Key Derivation Function 2 (PBKDF2) applies a pseudorandom function repeatedly to derive high-entropy cryptographic keys from human-readable passphrases.
Common Aliases:Key StretchingPBKDF2-HMAC-SHA256
## Protecting Against Brute-Force Password Attacks
Human passwords typically contain low entropy. PBKDF2 protects against dictionary and GPU cracking attacks by iterating a hashing function (such as HMAC-SHA256) hundreds of thousands of times.
PrivacyFold enforces 600,000 PBKDF2 iterations with unique 128-bit cryptographic salts per encrypted file.
Related Client-Side Privacy Tools
Run the in-browser implementations adhering to PBKDF2 with zero server uploads.