3.1.6

Hashing

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Hashing

Hashing can be used for both protecting data and for comparing files.

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Hashing

  • Hashing is the process of taking an input, performing some form of calculation on the input that outputs a value of fixed size.
  • The output is known as a hash.
  • The hash function has no inverse (non-invertible).
  • This means hashing is extremely secure as you cannot reverse a hash to get back to the original data that was input.
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Passwords

  • Hashing can be used to store passwords.
  • When a user creates a password for an account, it is put through a hashing function and stored as the encrypted password.
  • A password entered by a user to gain access to the account will be put through the same hashing function and compared to the stored password.
  • No one can know your actual password by looking in the database.
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Digital signatures

  • Hashing can also be used as a way of adding digital signatures to files.
  • The hash output value can be encrypted with a private key and sent to someone else and they use the matching public key to decrypt.
  • This way you know it has come from that one specific person.

Jump to other topics

1Components of a Computer

2Software & Software Development

3Exchanging Data

4Data Types, Data Structures & Algorithms

5Legal, Moral, Cultural & Ethical Issues

6Elements of Computational Thinking

6.1Thinking Abstractly

6.2Thinking Ahead

6.3Thinking Procedurally

6.4Thinking Logically

6.5Thinking Concurrently

7Problem Solving & Programming

8Algorithms

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