Cryptography
Last updated
Last updated
Hashing is a process that transforms input data into a unique hash value, a fixed-length string of characters, also known as a digest. This hash value serves as a unique representation of the original data, and even a minor modification in the data will result in a different hash value. Unlike encryption or encoding, hashing is a one-way process, meaning the original data cannot be recovered from the hash.
Computer science - Polynomial Time (e.g. hashing algorithm = reasonable time) vs Non-deterministic Polynomial Time (e.g. un-hashing algorithm = long time)
Some hashing algorithms: MD4, MD5, SHA1, NTLM, etc
Encoding is used to convert data into a different format to ensure compatibility with a particular system. Common encoding methods for the English language include ASCII, UTF-8, UTF-16, UTF-32, ISO-8859-1, and Windows-1252. UTF-8, UTF-16, and UTF-32 are Unicode encodings capable of representing characters from various languages, such as Arabic and Japanese.
Encryption is the only method that safeguards data confidentiality by using a cryptographic cipher and a key. This process is reversible, as long as the cipher is known and the key is accessible.
