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Understanding Hash Functions and SHA256

Hash functions map data of arbitrary length to a unique fixed-length string called a digest. They allow one to check integrity by recomputing the hash and comparing it. SHA256 is a standardized hash function that maps input to a 64-character hexadecimal string and is used to verify file integrity when downloading from the internet. It is implemented in libraries to avoid rewriting the code.

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37 views3 pages

Understanding Hash Functions and SHA256

Hash functions map data of arbitrary length to a unique fixed-length string called a digest. They allow one to check integrity by recomputing the hash and comparing it. SHA256 is a standardized hash function that maps input to a 64-character hexadecimal string and is used to verify file integrity when downloading from the internet. It is implemented in libraries to avoid rewriting the code.

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Hash Functions

A hash function maps data of arbitrary length to a unique xed length string, called digest.

WE'LL COVER THE FOLLOWING

• Hash Functions for Checking Integrity


• SHA256 Hash Function

A hash value for a data is X is a function:

HASH(X) = Y

Such that:

No other X’ can have HASH(X’) equal to Y. Its one to one mapping.


The size of Y is fixed and the size of X can be arbitrary.
Given Y you can not calculate X. Its a one-way function!

Hash Functions for Checking Integrity #


This means that I can take a huge text file and compute its unique digest using
a hash function. If I send that file and its computed hash along with it to a
receiver, Bob, Bob can then recompute the hash to ensure that the content of
that file were not corrupted in the transmission. When we download a file
from the internet, it uses the same hash functions to verify its integrity.

SHA256 Hash Function #


There are multiple standardized hash function implementations that are used,
such as SHA256, which we will be using in our course.

You can find libraries that implement SHA256 hash in all technologies, so you
never have to write your code for SHA256 implementation.

Here is a small Javascript widget that will calculate sha256 of any data you
enter:

output

e3b0c44298fc1c149afbf4c8996fb924

7ae41e4649b934ca495991b7852b855

Test Yourself

1
Which of the following statements is true?

COMPLETED 0%
1 of 3
In the next lesson, we will discuss what Public key cryptography is.

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