What Is a Plaintext Password

A plain text password (or Plaintext, or Plain-text) is a way of writing (and sending) a password in a clear, readable format. Such password is not encrypted and can be easily read by other humans and machines.

Why is plaintext password bad?

Why Passwords Shouldn’t Be Stored in Plain Text When a company stores passwords in plain text, anyone with the password database—or whatever other file the passwords are stored in—can read them. If a hacker gains access to the file, they can see all the passwords. Storing passwords in plain text is a terrible practice.

Is plaintext secure?

Plaintext is vulnerable in use and in storage, whether in electronic or paper format. Physical security means the securing of information and its storage media from physical, attack—for instance by someone entering a building to access papers, storage media, or computers.