diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 7850f8cd..486aea49 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -42,6 +42,26 @@ ohmage depends on a set of directories to store log files and user data. By defa
 
 Any Servlet 3.0 compliant container should work. Internally, we use Tomcat. To build the WAR file, use `ant clean dist`, which will produce an ssl-disabled container. It should be noted that we do not recommend having the servlet itself handle SSL, and instead suggest you use a web server like nginx or apache to do SSL termination.
 
+## Using SHA-512 for Password Hashing
+
+The Blowfish algorithm is used by default for password hashing. Ohmage supports SHA512 algorithm for password hashing.
+
+To use SHA-512, run the following commands in MySQL console as soon as ohmage is up and running:
+```
+--Enables SHA-512 password hashing
+UPDATE `ohmage`.`preference` SET `p_value` = 'true' WHERE `p_key` = 'sha512_password_hash_enabled';
+--Updates the default SHA512 password hash for `ohmage.admin` user to `ohmage.passwd`
+UPDATE `ohmage`.`user` SET `password` = '$6$Afmg23YTsd$113jh7VsD6q6wDnDWD9SqJUzobqjFIuGMhpgpuXM49acjyjFfWOGAhzT7W7zRleIhN2Xe.xH7ki2bk8nBlsX4/' WHERE `username` = 'ohmage.admin';
+```
+
+To use blowfish, run the following commands:
+```
+--Disables SHA-512 password hashing (thus enabling default blowfish)
+UPDATE `ohmage`.`preference` SET `p_value` = 'false' WHERE `p_key` = 'sha512_password_hash_enabled';
+--Updates the default blowfish password hash for `ohmage.admin` user to `ohmage.passwd`
+UPDATE `ohmage`.`user` SET `password` = '$2a$13$yxus2tQ3/QiOwWcELImOQuy9d5PXWbByQ6Bhp52b1se7fNYGFxN5i' WHERE `username` = 'ohmage.admin';
+```
+
 # Collaboration
 
 The coding rules are loose, and the best reference would be other parts of the code. A few rules we do have are:
diff --git a/build.xml b/build.xml
index 143c82a8..6fd575e5 100644
--- a/build.xml
+++ b/build.xml
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
   <property name="condition" location="condition"/>
 
   <fileset id="compile-dependencies" dir="${library}">
+    <include name="commons-codec-1.10.jar" />
     <include name="log4j-1.2.16.jar"/>
     <include name="servlet-api-3.0.jar"/>
     <include name="org.springframework.beans-3.1.1.RELEASE.jar" />
@@ -45,6 +46,7 @@
   </fileset>
 
   <fileset id="run-dependencies" dir="${library}">
+    <include name="commons-codec-1.10.jar" />
     <include name="log4j-1.2.16.jar"/>
     <include name="org.springframework.asm-3.1.1.RELEASE.jar" />
     <include name="org.springframework.beans-3.1.1.RELEASE.jar" />
@@ -125,7 +127,7 @@
       <classpath refid="compile-classpath"/>
     </javac>
   </target>
-    
+  
   <target name="javac-library" description="Compiles Java files to create the ohmage library.">
     <mkdir dir="${build}/classes"/>
     <javac destdir="${build}/classes" source="1.7" target="1.7"
diff --git a/db/migration/V11__sha512_pw_hashing_support.sql b/db/migration/V11__sha512_pw_hashing_support.sql
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..5b9f8df0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/db/migration/V11__sha512_pw_hashing_support.sql
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+-- Adds configuration option for enabling sha512 password hashing
+-- with default value of false
+
+INSERT INTO preference (p_key, p_value) VALUES 
+  ('sha512_password_hash_enabled', 'false')
+    ON DUPLICATE KEY UPDATE p_value=VALUES(p_value);
+
+-- Changes password column length to 120 chars to accomadate sha512 password hashes
+ALTER TABLE `user` MODIFY `password` VARCHAR(120);
diff --git a/lib/commons-codec-1.10.jar b/lib/commons-codec-1.10.jar
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..1d7417c4
Binary files /dev/null and b/lib/commons-codec-1.10.jar differ
diff --git a/src/org/ohmage/cache/PreferenceCache.java b/src/org/ohmage/cache/PreferenceCache.java
index 28e7eaa7..09a6a61a 100644
--- a/src/org/ohmage/cache/PreferenceCache.java
+++ b/src/org/ohmage/cache/PreferenceCache.java
@@ -157,6 +157,11 @@ public final class PreferenceCache extends KeyValueCache {
 
 	// Local auth enabling.
 	public static final String KEY_LOCAL_AUTH_ENABLED = "local_auth_enabled";
+        
+        // SHA512 hash enabling (over the default blowfish option -
+        // useful for redhat based distros).
+        public static final String KEY_SHA512_PASSWORD_HASH_ENABLED = 
+                "sha512_password_hash_enabled";
 	
 	// The reference to one's self to return to requesters.
 	private static PreferenceCache instance;
diff --git a/src/org/ohmage/domain/ServerConfig.java b/src/org/ohmage/domain/ServerConfig.java
index d7775028..2b761c74 100644
--- a/src/org/ohmage/domain/ServerConfig.java
+++ b/src/org/ohmage/domain/ServerConfig.java
@@ -103,6 +103,7 @@ public class ServerConfig {
 	public static final boolean DEFAULT_SELF_REGISTRATION_ALLOWED = true;
 	public static final boolean DEFAULT_KEYCLOAK_AUTH_ENABLED = false;
 	public static final boolean DEFAULT_LOCAL_AUTH_ENABLED = true;
+        public static final boolean DEFAULT_SHA512_PASSWORD_HASH_ENABLED = false;
 	
 	
 	private final String appName;
@@ -119,6 +120,7 @@ public class ServerConfig {
 	private final boolean userSetupEnabled;
 	private final boolean keycloakAuthEnabled;
 	private final boolean localAuthEnabled;
+        private final boolean sha512PasswordHashEnabled;
 	private final String publicClassId;
 	
 	/**
@@ -154,6 +156,7 @@ public ServerConfig(
 			final boolean userSetupEnabled,
 			final boolean keycloakAuthEnabled,
 			final boolean localAuthEnabled,
+                        final boolean sha512PasswordHashEnabled,
 			final String publicClassId) 
 			throws DomainException {
 		
@@ -203,6 +206,7 @@ else if(StringUtils.isEmptyOrWhitespaceOnly(publicClassId)){
 
 		this.keycloakAuthEnabled = keycloakAuthEnabled;
 		this.localAuthEnabled = localAuthEnabled;
+                this.sha512PasswordHashEnabled = sha512PasswordHashEnabled;
 
 		this.publicClassId = publicClassId;
 	}
@@ -392,6 +396,8 @@ public ServerConfig(
 					"The public class id was missing from the JSON.", 
 					e);
 		}
+                
+                sha512PasswordHashEnabled = DEFAULT_SHA512_PASSWORD_HASH_ENABLED;
 
 	}
 	
@@ -522,6 +528,15 @@ public final boolean getKeycloakAuthEnabled() {
 	public final boolean getLocalAuthEnabled() {
 		return localAuthEnabled;
 	}
+        
+        /**
+	 * Returns whether or not sha512 password hashing is enabled.
+	 * 
+	 * @return Whether or not sha512 password hashing is enabled.
+	 */
+	public final boolean getSha512PasswordHashingEnabled() {
+		return sha512PasswordHashEnabled;
+	}
 
 	/**
 	 * Returns the public class id of the server.
diff --git a/src/org/ohmage/query/impl/AuthenticationQuery.java b/src/org/ohmage/query/impl/AuthenticationQuery.java
index ff24c13c..707f9bdf 100644
--- a/src/org/ohmage/query/impl/AuthenticationQuery.java
+++ b/src/org/ohmage/query/impl/AuthenticationQuery.java
@@ -17,17 +17,22 @@
 
 import java.sql.ResultSet;
 import java.sql.SQLException;
+import org.apache.log4j.Logger;
 
 import javax.sql.DataSource;
 
 import jbcrypt.BCrypt;
+import org.apache.commons.codec.digest.Crypt;
 
 import org.ohmage.annotator.Annotator.ErrorCode;
 import org.ohmage.domain.KeycloakUser;
 import org.ohmage.domain.User;
 import org.ohmage.exception.DataAccessException;
+import org.ohmage.exception.ServiceException;
 import org.ohmage.query.IAuthenticationQuery;
 import org.ohmage.request.UserRequest;
+import org.ohmage.service.ConfigServices;
+import org.ohmage.service.UserServices;
 import org.springframework.jdbc.core.RowMapper;
 
 /**
@@ -36,6 +41,8 @@
  * @author John Jenkins
  */
 public final class AuthenticationQuery extends Query implements IAuthenticationQuery{
+    	private static final Logger LOGGER = Logger.getLogger("UserServices");
+
 	// Gets the user's hashed password from the database.
 	private static final String SQL_GET_PASSWORD = 
 		"SELECT password " +
@@ -105,7 +112,7 @@ public boolean getNewAccount() {
 	private AuthenticationQuery(DataSource dataSource) {
 		super(dataSource);
 		
-		instance = this;
+		instance = this;               
 	}
 	
 	/* (non-Javadoc)
@@ -115,7 +122,7 @@ private AuthenticationQuery(DataSource dataSource) {
 	public UserInformation execute(UserRequest userRequest) throws DataAccessException {
 		User user = userRequest.getUser();
 		String hashedPassword;
-		
+                
 		// Hash the password if necessary.
 		// SN: set password to fixed string if user is a keycloak user
 		if(user instanceof KeycloakUser){
@@ -137,10 +144,21 @@ else if(user.hashPassword()) {
 				if(actualPassword.equals(KeycloakUser.KEYCLOAK_USER_PASSWORD)){
 					userRequest.setFailed(ErrorCode.AUTHENTICATION_FAILED, "Unknown user or incorrect password.");
 					return null;			
-				}
-				hashedPassword = BCrypt.hashpw(user.getPassword(), actualPassword);
+				}      
+
+                                if( ConfigServices.readServerConfiguration().getSha512PasswordHashingEnabled() ) {                                
+                                    hashedPassword = Crypt.crypt(user.getPassword(), actualPassword);         
+                                }
+                                else {
+                                    hashedPassword = BCrypt.hashpw(user.getPassword(), actualPassword);
+                                }      
+
 				userRequest.getUser().setHashedPassword(hashedPassword);
 			}
+                        catch (ServiceException e) {
+                                userRequest.setFailed(ErrorCode.AUTHENTICATION_FAILED, "Unexpected error occurred.");
+                                return null;
+                        }
 			catch(org.springframework.dao.IncorrectResultSizeDataAccessException e) {
 				// If there were multiple users with the same username,
 				if(e.getActualSize() > 1) {
@@ -160,7 +178,7 @@ else if(user.hashPassword()) {
 		else {
 			hashedPassword = user.getPassword();
 		}
-		
+
 		// Get the user's information from the database.
 		try {
 			UserInformation userInformation = instance.getJdbcTemplate().queryForObject(
diff --git a/src/org/ohmage/service/ConfigServices.java b/src/org/ohmage/service/ConfigServices.java
index 5256115f..f9ff2281 100644
--- a/src/org/ohmage/service/ConfigServices.java
+++ b/src/org/ohmage/service/ConfigServices.java
@@ -174,6 +174,25 @@ public static ServerConfig readServerConfiguration()
 		catch(IllegalArgumentException e) {
 			throw new ServiceException("The local auth config was not a valid boolean.", e);
 		}
+                
+                boolean sha512PasswordHashEnabled;
+		try {
+			sha512PasswordHashEnabled = 
+					StringUtils.decodeBoolean(
+							PreferenceCache.instance().lookup(
+									PreferenceCache.KEY_SHA512_PASSWORD_HASH_ENABLED));
+		}
+		catch(CacheMissException e) {
+			sha512PasswordHashEnabled = 
+                                ServerConfig.DEFAULT_SHA512_PASSWORD_HASH_ENABLED;
+			LOGGER.warn("sha512_password_hash_enabled config is " 
+                                + "missing from the DB. Will default to " 
+                                + sha512PasswordHashEnabled);
+		}
+		catch(IllegalArgumentException e) {
+			throw new ServiceException("The sha512_password_hash_enabled " 
+                                + " was not a valid boolean.", e);
+		}
 
 		String publicClassId;
 		try {
@@ -200,6 +219,7 @@ public static ServerConfig readServerConfiguration()
 					userSetupEnabled,
 					keycloakAuthEnabled,
 					localAuthEnabled,
+                                        sha512PasswordHashEnabled,
 					publicClassId);
 		} 
 		catch(DomainException e) {
diff --git a/src/org/ohmage/service/UserServices.java b/src/org/ohmage/service/UserServices.java
index 01229ab4..b3fe33ed 100644
--- a/src/org/ohmage/service/UserServices.java
+++ b/src/org/ohmage/service/UserServices.java
@@ -48,6 +48,9 @@
 import javax.mail.internet.MimeMessage;
 import com.sun.mail.smtp.SMTPTransport;
 
+import org.apache.commons.codec.digest.Crypt;
+import org.ohmage.service.ConfigServices;
+
 import jbcrypt.BCrypt;
 import net.tanesha.recaptcha.ReCaptchaImpl;
 import net.tanesha.recaptcha.ReCaptchaResponse;
@@ -121,7 +124,7 @@ public final class UserServices {
 	private IUserClassQueries userClassQueries;
 	private IUserImageQueries userImageQueries;
 	private IImageQueries imageQueries;
-	
+        	
 	/**
 	 * Default constructor. Privately instantiated via dependency injection
 	 * (reflection).
@@ -161,7 +164,7 @@ private UserServices(IUserQueries iUserQueries,
 		userCampaignQueries = iUserCampaignQueries;
 		userClassQueries = iUserClassQueries;
 		userImageQueries = iUserImageQueries;
-		imageQueries = iImageQueries;
+		imageQueries = iImageQueries;                
 	}
 	
 	/**
@@ -170,7 +173,7 @@ private UserServices(IUserQueries iUserQueries,
 	public static UserServices instance() {
 		return instance;
 	}
-
+        
 	/**
 	 * Creates a new user.
 	 * 
@@ -211,8 +214,15 @@ public void createUser(
 				hashedPassword = 
 						KeycloakUser.KEYCLOAK_USER_PASSWORD; 
 			} else {
-				hashedPassword =
-						BCrypt.hashpw(password, BCrypt.gensalt(User.BCRYPT_COMPLEXITY));
+                            if( ConfigServices.readServerConfiguration().getSha512PasswordHashingEnabled() ) {
+                                hashedPassword = 
+                                        Crypt.crypt(password);                                                               
+                            }
+                            else {
+				hashedPassword = 
+                                        BCrypt.hashpw(password, BCrypt.gensalt(User.BCRYPT_COMPLEXITY));                                
+                            }
+
 			}
 			
 			userQueries
@@ -276,8 +286,14 @@ public boolean createUser(
 				hashedPassword = 
 						KeycloakUser.KEYCLOAK_USER_PASSWORD; 
 			} else {
-				hashedPassword =
-						BCrypt.hashpw(password, BCrypt.gensalt(User.BCRYPT_COMPLEXITY));
+                                if(ConfigServices.readServerConfiguration().getSha512PasswordHashingEnabled()) {
+                                    hashedPassword = 
+                                            Crypt.crypt(password);                                                               
+                                }
+                                else {
+                                    hashedPassword = 
+                                            BCrypt.hashpw(password, BCrypt.gensalt(User.BCRYPT_COMPLEXITY));                                
+                                }			
 			}
 			
 			return
@@ -338,11 +354,17 @@ public void createUserRegistration(
 	        }
 			String registrationId = buffer.toString();
 			
+                        
 			// Hash the password.
-			String hashedPassword = 
-					BCrypt.hashpw(
-							password, 
-							BCrypt.gensalt(User.BCRYPT_COMPLEXITY));
+			String hashedPassword;
+                        if(ConfigServices.readServerConfiguration().getSha512PasswordHashingEnabled()) {
+                            hashedPassword = 
+                                    Crypt.crypt(password);                                                               
+                        }
+                        else {
+                            hashedPassword = 
+                                    BCrypt.hashpw(password, BCrypt.gensalt(User.BCRYPT_COMPLEXITY));                                
+                        }
 			
 			// Create the user in the database with all of its connections.
 			userQueries.createUserRegistration(
@@ -2039,9 +2061,18 @@ public void resetPassword(final String username)
 		}
 		
 		try {
+                        String hashedPassword;
+                        if(ConfigServices.readServerConfiguration().getSha512PasswordHashingEnabled()) {
+                            hashedPassword = 
+                                    Crypt.crypt(newPassword);                                                               
+                        }
+                        else {
+                            hashedPassword = 
+                                    BCrypt.hashpw(newPassword, BCrypt.gensalt(User.BCRYPT_COMPLEXITY));                                
+                        }
 			userQueries.updateUserPassword(
 					username, 
-					BCrypt.hashpw(newPassword, BCrypt.gensalt(13)), 
+					hashedPassword, 
 					true);
 		}
 		catch(DataAccessException e) {
@@ -2194,15 +2225,19 @@ public String updatePassword(final String username,
 			final String plaintextPassword) throws ServiceException {
 		
 		try {
-			String hashedPassword = 
-				BCrypt
-					.hashpw(
-						plaintextPassword, 
-						BCrypt.gensalt(User.BCRYPT_COMPLEXITY));
-			
-			userQueries.updateUserPassword(username, hashedPassword, false);
-			
-			return hashedPassword;
+                    String hashedPassword;
+                    if(ConfigServices.readServerConfiguration().getSha512PasswordHashingEnabled()) {
+                        hashedPassword = 
+                                Crypt.crypt(plaintextPassword);                                                               
+                    }
+                    else {
+                        hashedPassword = 
+                                BCrypt.hashpw(plaintextPassword, BCrypt.gensalt(User.BCRYPT_COMPLEXITY));                                
+                    }
+
+                    userQueries.updateUserPassword(username, hashedPassword, false);
+
+                    return hashedPassword;
 		}
 		catch(DataAccessException e) {
 			throw new ServiceException(e);