What is an advantage of using key stretching techniques?

Key stretching techniques are designed specifically to strengthen the security of hashed passwords. By increasing the computational workload required to derive the original password from its hash, these techniques effectively make it more time-consuming for attackers to attempt to crack hashed passwords through brute force or dictionary attacks. This is achieved by repeatedly hashing the password or by using algorithms that are designed to be resource-intensive.

As a result, even if an attacker has access to the hashed passwords, the increased time and resources required to crack them significantly enhance security. This makes it much less feasible for attackers to succeed in a timely manner, thereby protecting user data.

The other choices do not align with the primary purpose of key stretching. For instance, key stretching does not enforce shorter passwords; in fact, it can often encourage the use of longer and more complex passwords to further enhance security. It also does not inherently decrease encryption time; rather, it increases the time and resources needed to crack the passwords. Lastly, key stretching is not associated with facilitating easier password recovery, as its main function is to enhance security, not to simplify the recovery process.