Hashing Algorithms
The process of converting large blocks of data into smaller and fixed size of representations by performing the mathematical functions is called hashing algorithms. This is the most commonly used encryption method which is a special kind of mathematical function that gives the one way encryption. This means that once the hash value of the data is generated using the hashing algorithm it is impossible to retrieve the plain text using the hash value. Ideally it is impossible to derive a same hash value for the two different plain texts. These hashing algorithms are publicly available and anyone can hash their file or messages to check the integrity of them.
There are two popular hashing algorithms which are widely in use; they are Secure Hash Algorithm (SHA) and Message Digest (MD). These algorithms also provide authentication by appending the symmetric or asymmetric key to the message and performing the hash function on it, this is known as hashed Message Authentication Code or Keyed Hash. Both the hash algorithms support this and HMAC-SHA and HMAC-MD5 are used in TLS.
This Project Paper is written & submitted by Deepak V.