MULTI-LAYERED AUTHENTICATION MODEL BASED ON THE COMBINATION OF PASSWORD HASHING AND DIGITAL SECURITY FACTORS

In the context of increasingly sophisticated identity theft attacks, the sole reliance on traditional hash functions no longer guarantees absolute security for authentication systems. This paper focuses on the theoretical research of modern password protection algorithms—such as Bcrypt, Scrypt, and PBKDF2—thereby analyzing the technical characteristics that help mitigate specialized hardware attacks. Building on this foundation, the authors propose a Multi-layered Authentication Model that integrates 'memory-hard' hashing algorithms with digital security components like Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA). The research findings provide a theoretical framework to support the development of personal data security policies and enhance digital literacy for users within higher education environments