Argon2id: The Gold Standard

What is Argon2id?

Argon2id is a key derivation algorithm (KDF - Key Derivation Function) that won the Password Hashing Competition in 2015. It was specifically designed to be resistant to modern brute-force attacks using GPUs, ASICs, and specialized hardware.

Why is Argon2id Superior?

Unlike older algorithms like bcrypt, scrypt, PBKDF2, or SHA-256, Argon2id was designed from scratch with modern threats in mind:

• Memory Hardness: Requires a configurable amount of RAM (64MB by default in Vault), making massive GPU attacks extremely costly.
• Time Resistance: Processing time is adjustable, allowing adaptation to faster hardware in the future.
• ASIC Resistance: Its memory-hard design makes it resistant to specialized hardware, unlike algorithms like SHA-256 which can be efficiently attacked with ASICs.
• Hybrid Mode: Argon2id combines Argon2i (resistant to side-channel attacks) and Argon2d (resistant to GPU attacks), providing the best of both worlds.

Comparison with Other Algorithms

How It Works in Vault

When you create a password in Vault, Argon2id transforms that password into a 256-bit encryption key through the following process:

• 1. Random Salt: A unique random 128-bit salt is generated for each encryption.
• 2. Memory Parameters: Configured to use 64MB of RAM during derivation.
• 3. Iterations: 3 passes are performed over the data, increasing temporal resistance.
• 4. Parallelism: Uses 1 processing thread to maintain universal compatibility.
• 5. Output: A 256-bit key is generated and used to encrypt your data with XChaCha20-Poly1305.

Real Security

With Argon2id and a strong 16+ character password, the estimated time to break the encryption through brute force is:

• With consumer hardware: billions of years
• With high-end GPUs: millions of years
• With specialized ASIC farms: hundreds of thousands of years

This makes your data protected even against adversaries with unlimited resources.

Standards and Adoption

Argon2 is recommended by:

• ✓ OWASP (Open Web Application Security Project)
• ✓ IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force) - RFC 9106
• ✓ NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology)
• ✓ Used by mission-critical security projects: Signal, 1Password, Bitwarden