If you can stay awake through this whole walkthrough, you’ll understand all of its nuts and bolts. Let’s go through an example of the SHA-256 hashing algorithm step-by-step, by hand. As of 2022, SHA-256 is plenty secure to use in your applications. Along with standardization and formalization comes a list of test vectors that allow developers to ensure they’ve implemented the algorithm properly. SHA-256 is formally defined in the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s FIPS 180-4. In cases where keys are not generated, such as proof-of-work Bitcoin mining, a fast hash algorithm like SHA-2 often has the upper hand. SHA-2 is known for its security (it hasn’t broken down like SHA-1) and its speed. Instead you’ll want to use a key derivation function, which is just a password-hashing algorithm that’s designed to slow down attackers. While it’s possible, you absolutely should not use SHA 256 to hash passwords! SHA-256 is designed to be computed very quickly, which means that if someone were to perform a brute force attack on your user’s passwords, they wouldn’t be safe. In version control systems like Git to check if data has changed.In anti-viruses, to compare the fingerprints of files and programs.To secure blockchains like Bitcoin and Ethereum.To create website authentication schemes, using JWTs, HMACs and MACs.SHA-256 is useful in so many circumstances! It’s a fast and secure hash function, here are some of the most common ways that it’s used: Subscribe to my YouTube channel if this video was helpful! What is SHA-256 used for? □ My Explanation of Some Real-World Uses for SHA □ SHA-2 is a strong family of hash functions because, as you would expect, it serves all the purposes mentioned above. The input cannot be derived from the output To accept an input of arbitrary length and output a fixed-length result.Three main purposes of a hash function are: After all, in SHA-256 there are 2^256 possible outputs. When this happens, it’s called a “collision”, and it is nearly impossible. The number of possible inputs, however, is infinite, meaning some inputs will hash to the same output. After all, the output of SHA-256 is always 256 bits long, which means it has a fixed size. It’s worth noting that the output of a hash is “almost unique” because there are a finite number of output strings. If we changed even a single letter in the book, the output hash would be wildly different. For example, if we were to hash the entire text of JRR Tolkien’s “The Lord of The Rings” series using the SHA 256 algorithm, we would get a 256-bit output unique to that book’s text. SHA-256 is a standard hash function, so the real question is, “what’s a hash function”?Ī cryptographic hash function generates a “fingerprint” of an input string. Start the Back-end Career Path What is SHA-256? □
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