Hashing is simply the practice of using an algorithm to map data of any length to a fixed-length output. It\u2019s useful in a number of ways and plays a role in several different types of encryption<\/strong>. We\u2019ve designed this article to help explain what hashing is and how it interacts with the encryption process.<\/p>\n Hashing is mapping data of any length to a fixed-length output using an algorithm<\/strong>. Typically, the hashing algorithm most people know of is SHA-2 or SHA-256. That\u2019s because it\u2019s the current standard for SSL encryption.<\/p>\n The purpose of hashing is authentication<\/strong>. And to illustrate this, we\u2019ll use an example.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s say I\u2019m sending you a message and you want to ensure that what you\u2019re receiving is what I intended. Or to put it another way, you want to make sure that the message hasn\u2019t been altered. To do this, I\u2019m going to send you the message, then I\u2019m going to send you a hash value<\/strong> and the algorithm<\/strong> I used to hash it. An algorithm is really just a set of steps or procedures. So I send you a message and the hash value. When you receive the message, you\u2019re going to re-hash<\/strong> it to see what value it produces. If the values are the same, then the message hasn\u2019t been tampered with.<\/p>\n Keep in mind, no two pieces of data can produce the same output. If they do, this is called a collision<\/strong> and the algorithm is deemed unsafe. Google did this in 2017 to prove that SHA-1 was unsafe. That\u2019s why we now use SHA-2 (also known as SHA-256, for the length of its output \u2013 256 characters long).<\/p>\nWhat is Hashing?<\/h2>\n