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Hash functions
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A hash function in cryptography is like a mathematical function that takes various inputs,
like messages or data, and transforms them into fixed-length strings of characters.
Means the input to the hash function is of any length but output is always of fixed length.
This is like compressing a large balloon into a compact ball.
The importance of this process lies in its generation of a unique "fingerprint" for each
input. Any minor alteration in the input results in a substantially different fingerprint, a
quality known as "collision resistance."
Hash functions play a crucial role in various security applications, including password
storage (hash values instead of passwords), digital signatures, and data integrity checks.
Hash values, or message digests, are values that a hash function returns. The hash
function is shown in the image below −
Key Points of Hash Functions
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Hash functions are mathematical operations that "map" or change a given
collection of data into a fixed-length bit string that is referred to as the "hash
value."
Hash functions have a variety of complexity and difficulty levels and are used in
cryptography.
Cryptocurrency, password security, and communication security all use hash
functions.
Operation of Cryptographic Hash Functions
In computing systems, hash functions are frequently used data structures for tasks like
information authentication and message integrity checks. They are not easily
decipherable, but because they can be solved in polynomial time, they are regarded as
cryptographically "weak".
Typical hash functions have been improved with security characteristics by cryptographic
hash functions, which make it more challenging to decipher message contents or
recipient and sender information.
Specifically, cryptographic hash functions display the following three characteristics −
The hash function are called as "collision-free." As a result, no two input hashes
should be equal to the same output hash.
They are hidden. A hash function's output should make it difficult to figure out
the input value from it.
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They should to be friendly to puzzles. The selection of an input that generates a
predetermined result needs to be difficult. As such, the input needs to be taken
from as wide as possible.
Properties of hash functions
To be a reliable cryptographic tool, the hash function should have the following
properties −
Pre-Image Resistance
According to this feature, reversing a hash function should be computationally
difficult.
In other words, if a hash function h generates a hash value z, it should be difficult
to identify an input value x that hashes to z.
This feature defends against an attacker attempting to locate the input with just
the hash value.
Second Pre-Image Resistance
This property says that given an input and its hash, it should be difficult to find
another input with the same hash.
In other words, it should be challenging to find another input value y such that
h(y) equals h(x) if a hash function h for an input x returns the hash value h(x).
This feature of the hash function protects against an attacker who wants to
replace a new value for the original input value and hash, but only holds the input
value and its hash.
Collision Resistance
This feature says that it should be difficult to identify two different inputs of any
length that produce the same hash. This characteristic is also known as a
collision-free hash function.
In other words, for a hash function h, it is difficult to identify two distinct inputs x
and y such that h(x)=h(y).
A hash function cannot be free of collisions because it is a compression function
with a set hash length. The collision-free condition simply indicates that these
collisions should be difficult to locate.
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This characteristic makes it very hard for an attacker to identify two input values
that have the same hash.
Furthermore, a hash function is second pre-image resistant if it is collision-
resistant.
Efficiency of Operation
Computation of h(x) for any hash function h given input x can be an easy
process.
Hash functions are computationally considerably faster than symmetric
encryption.
Fixed Output Size
Hashing generates an output of a specific length, regardless of the input size, and helps
to make an output of the same size from different input sizes.
Deterministic
For a given input, the hash function consistently produces the same output, like a recipe
that always yields the same dish when followed precisely.
Fast Computation
Hashing operations occur rapidly, even for large amounts of data sets.
Design of Hashing Algorithms
Hashing essentially involves a mathematical function that takes two data blocks of fixed
size and converts them into a hash code. The function is a key part of the hashing
algorithm. The length of these data blocks differ according to the algorithm used.
Usually, they range from 128 bits to 512 bits. Below is an example of a hash function −
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Hashing algorithms use a sequence of rounds, similar to a block cipher, to process a
message. In each round, a fixed-size input is used, which usually combines the current
message block and the result from the previous round.
This process continues for multiple rounds until the entire message is hashed. A visual
representation of this process is provided in the illustration below.
Due to the interconnected nature of hashing, where the output of one operation affects
the input of the next, even a minor change (a single bit difference) in the original
message can drastically alter the final hash value.
This phenomenon is known as the avalanche effect. Additionally, it's crucial to distinguish
between a hash function and a hashing algorithm. The hash function itself takes two
fixed-length binary blocks of data and generates a hash code.
A hashing algorithm, on the other hand, establishes how the message is divided into
blocks and how the outcomes of multiple hash operations are combined.
Popular Hash Functions
Hash functions play an important role in computing, providing versatile capabilities like:
Quick retrieval of data, Secure protection of information (cryptography), Ensuring data
remains unaltered (integrity verification). Some commonly used hash functions are −
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Message Digest (MD)
For a number of years, MD5 was the most popular and often used hash function.
The hash functions MD2, MD4, MD5, and MD6 are members of the MD family. It
was adopted as the RFC 1321, Internet Standard. It is a 128-bit hash function.
In the software industry, MD5 digests are frequently used to ensure the integrity
of transferred files. To enable users to compare the checksum of the downloaded
file with the pre-computed MD5 checksum, file servers frequently provide this
feature.
In 2004, collisions were found in MD5. It was claimed that an analytical attack
using a computer cluster was successful in under one hour. Since MD5 was
compromised by this collision attack, using it is no longer recommended.
Secure Hash Function (SHA)
The four SHA algorithms which make up the SHA family are SHA-0, SHA-1, SHA-2, and
SHA-3. Despite coming from the same family, the structure of it differs.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) released the first
iteration of the 160-bit hash algorithm, known as SHA-0, in 1993. It did not gain
much popularity and had few drawbacks. SHA-1 was created later in 1995 to
address perceived flaws in SHA-0.
SHA-1 is the most widely used of the existing SHA hash functions. It is used in
most of the applications and protocols including Secure Socket Layer (SSL)
security.
In 2005, a technique was discovered for SHA-1 collision detection that can be
used in a realistic time frame. So it is doubtful on SHA-1's long-term usability.
SHA-224, SHA-256, SHA-384, and SHA-512 are the other four SHA variants in
the SHA-2 family, which vary based on the number of bits in their hash value.
The SHA-2 hash function has not yet been the target of any effective attacks
Though SHA-2 is a strong hash function. Though significantly different, its basic
design still follows the design of SHA-1. NIST thus demanded the creation of new
competitive hash function designs.
The Keccak algorithm was selected by the NIST in October 2012 to replace the
SHA-3 standard. Keccak has several advantages, including effective operation and
strong attack resistance.
CityHash
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CityHash is another non-cryptographic hash function that is designed for fast hashing of
large amounts of data. It is optimized for modern processors and offers good
performance on both 32-bit and 64-bit architectures.
BLAKE2
BLAKE2 is a fast and secure hash function that improves upon SHA-3. It is widely used in
applications like cryptocurrency mining that need fast hashing. There are two types of
BLAKE2 −
BLAKE2b − Best for 64-bit computers, it produces hash values up to 512 bits
long.
BLAKE2s − Best for smaller computers (8-32 bits), it produces hash values up to
256 bits long.
CRC (Cyclic Redundancy Check)
CRC (Cyclic Redundancy Check) is a technique used to detect errors in data transfer. It
involves adding a special value called a checksum to the end of a message. This
checksum is calculated based on the message's content and is included during
transmission.
When the data is received, the recipient recalculates the checksum using the same
method. If the new checksum matches the original one, it's likely that the message was
transmitted without errors. While CRC is effective for error detection, it's not a security
measure. It is primarily used to ensure the integrity of data during transmission, not to
protect it from unauthorized access or modification.
MurmurHash
MurmurHash is a speedy and effective hash function that is not meant for security. It is
great for things like hash tables but not for tasks that need protection against collisions
(situations where different inputs produce the same hash).
Standard Length
Hashing involves converting a data set of any size into a shorter, fixed-length output
using a mathematical formula.
Table I: Different Hash Functions
In table I, the message "CFI" is converted into hash values using three algorithms: MD5,
SHA-1, and SHA-256. Each algorithm produces a unique output hash with a fixed length.
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MD5 generates a hash with 32 hexadecimal characters, SHA-1 with 40 characters, and
SHA-256 with 64 characters.
Input
Hash Function Output (Hash Value)
Message
MD5 (128-bit, 16-byte) 3A10 0B15 B943 0B17 11F2 E38F 0593
CFI
32 characters 9A9A
SHA-1 (160-bit, 20- 569D C9F0 7B48 7F58 9241 AD4C 5C28
CFI
byte) 40 characters 7DA0 A448 8D08
F3ED 0867 48FF 3641 3091 0BB6 6293 7080
SHA-256 (256-bit, 32-
CFI 2958 B5A2 52AF F364 1FC5 07FD E80D
byte) 64 characters
9929
Table II: Using the Same Hash Function (SHA-1) with different
Inputs
Besides the data (input) used, a hash function consistently generates a hash value with a
fixed number of characters. As shown in Table II, different messages inputted into the
same hash function (SHA-1 in this case) consistently produce output values of 40
hexadecimal characters in length.
Input Hash
Output (Hash Value)
Message Function
569D C9F0 7B48 7F58 9241 AD4C 5C28 7DA0
CFI SHA-1
A448 8D08
82C0 5EDC 608F AA08 8EE0 BDD8 8E22 3B38
Corporate FI SHA-1
CA38 82CC
2013 85FC EEE4 F73D 07F0 4F2A A4CB BOE9 12BF
CF Input SHA-1
BBB8
C501 23CE 8BB2 A42D 5BB4 4DA7 3FC2 3B3D
CFI 1 SHA-1
62F5 14A5
Applications of Hash Functions
Based on its cryptographic characteristics, the hash function has two direct uses.
Password Storage
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Hash functions provide protection to password storage. Instead of storing passwords in
clear, mostly all login processes store the hash values of passwords in the file.
The Password file is a table of pairs in the format (user id, h(P)).
Even if an attacker has access to the password, all they can see is the hashes of the
passwords. Because the hash function contains the pre-image resistance feature, he
cannot use it to log in or get the password from it.
Data Integrity Check
Data integrity checks, commonly using hash functions, provide assurances about the
accuracy of data files by creating checksums. This method allows users to detect any
alterations made to the original file.
However, it does not guarantee the authenticity of the file. An attacker could potentially
modify the entire file and generate a new hash, sending it to the receiver. This integrity
check is only effective if the user trusts the file's original source.
Hashing vs Encryption
Encryption transforms data into a disguised form, requiring a cipher (key) to decipher
and read it. Encryption and decryption are reversible processes enabled by the cipher.
Encryption is used with the goal of later deciphering the data.
Hashing transforms data of any size into a fixed-length output. Unlike encryption,
hashing is typically a one-way function. The high computational effort needed to reverse
a hash makes it difficult to retrieve the original data from the hashed output.
Data is protected during transmission by encryption, which stops unwanted access. By
comparing the data to a distinct fingerprint (hash) created from the original data,
hashing ensures the integrity of the data. Encryption keeps data confidential, while
hashing ensures authenticity by detecting any modifications.
