What is hashing in cyber security? (2024)

FAQs

What is hashing cyber security? ›

Hashing is a one-way mathematical function that turns data into a string of nondescript text that cannot be reversed or decoded. In the context of cybersecurity, hashing is a way to keep sensitive information and data — including passwords, messages, and documents — secure.

Hashing is the practice of transforming a given key or string of characters into another value for the purpose of security. Unlike standard encryption, hashing is always used for one-way encryption, and hashed values are very difficult to decode.

Basically, encryption is the process of scrambling plaintext into unreadable ciphertext, which you can decrypt with a relevant key, while hashing turns plain text into a unique code, which can't be reverted into a readable form.

Example of hashing

Company Y currently has a list of 100 different passwords for its employees and is looking to store this information securely. To hash them, Company Y inputs the data into a hashing algorithm, which then converts it into a short string of letters and numbers.

Hashing is a one-way process that turns data into a fixed-length hash value using a hash function. The primary goal of hashing is to ensure data integrity and validate the original data. Hash functions are intended to be fast and efficient, generating unique hash values for each input.

A hash cannot be reversed back to the original data because it is a one-way operation. Hashing is commonly used to verify the integrity of data, commonly referred to as a checksum. If two pieces of identical data are hashed using the same hash function, the resulting hash will be identical.

Understanding Three Types of Hashing. In the realm of data security and integrity, understanding the intricacies of Three Types of hashing - MD5, SHA-2 , and CRC32 - is paramount. Each algorithm serves a distinct purpose in safeguarding digital assets and ensuring the authenticity of information.

Hashing is implemented in two steps: An element is converted into an integer by using a hash function. This element can be used as an index to store the original element, which falls into the hash table. The element is stored in the hash table where it can be quickly retrieved using hashed key.

A hash key is the output from a hashing algorithm, where a specific input value is transformed into a distinct, unique string per input value. The purpose of hash keys in this context is to provide a surrogate key for business keys, composite business keys and business key combinations.

Hashing vs Encryption – Hashing refers to permanent data conversion into message digest while encryption works in two ways, which can encode and decode the data. Hashing helps protect the integrity of the information and Encryption is used to secure the data from the reach of third parties.

Should passwords be encrypted or hashed? ›

Hashing vs Encryption

Because hashing is a one-way function (i.e., it is impossible to "decrypt" a hash and obtain the original plaintext value), it is the most appropriate approach for password validation. Even if an attacker obtains the hashed password, they cannot use it to log in as the victim.

Since encryption is two-way, the data can be decrypted so it is readable again. Hashing, on the other hand, is one-way, meaning the plaintext is scrambled into a unique digest, through the use of a salt, that cannot be decrypted.

There are many practical examples of hash tables used in every-day life. A popular example is in username-password databases. Every time someone signs up on a website using a username and password, that information must be stored somewhere for later retrieval.

Hashing algorithms are just as abundant as encryption algorithms, but there are a few that are used more often than others. Some common hashing algorithms include MD5, SHA-1, SHA-2, NTLM, and LANMAN.

Hashing is defined as the process of assigning a numeric value to an alphanumeric string by first converting it into another numeric value and storing it in an indexed table to make data retrieval faster and/or masking the data for encryption, performed by a hash function.

Hashing is a process that transforms arbitrary-length data into a small, fixed-length string of characters called a digest or message digest. Malware hashes are used by virus protection systems to identify viruses. They consist of calculated numerical values of code unique to the virus.

In a nutshell, a file hash is a unique numerical value calculated using a mathematical function that identifies the content of a file. It takes an input of any size and converts it to a fixed-length data string. And if the file is modified, the hash file will change entirely, too, but its length will remain the same.

Password hashing turns your password (or any other piece of data) into a short string of letters and/or numbers using an encryption algorithm. If a website is hacked, password hashing helps prevent cybercriminals from getting access to your passwords.