What Does Hashing Mean in Blockchain?
| Hashing |
If you are new to the term hashing in blockchain, you might have heard this term in mathematics for sure. The reason is that a hash is a function related to mathematics that transfers an input of arbitrary size into a fixed length encrypted output. In other words, irrespective of the size of the input file or data, the unique hash associated with the data or file will be of the same size as other hashes.
The good thing about hashes is that they cannot be used for reverse engineering the input from the hashed output. Hash functions are generally one-way. So, you cannot put the hashed output as input again. If you manage to use such a function on the identical data, its hash will be the same. So, it will be possible for you to easily validate the data is identical if you already know the hash of the data. When it comes to blockchain management of cryptocurrency, hashing is widely used as a function.
Hashing in Data Security:
In the field of data security, hashing and encryption are widely used. Even though they play their role in data security, these two functions are different from each other. Encryption is nothing but a two-way function in which data is passed in as plaintext. However, the data comes out as ciphertext, which is not possible to read. Encryption is a two-way function. So, it is possible to decrypt the data and it becomes readable again.
But, hashing is more secure because it is a one-way function. In hashing, the plain text is scrambled into a unique form with the help of salt. So, when hashing is used, the data cannot be decrypted. This is one of the reasons for hashing being used in blockchain. Of course, some people argue that it is possible to decrypt hashing. Nevertheless, the computational power required for decryption makes decryption infeasible.
Why is Hashing Used in Blockchain?
The hash function meets the demand of encryption required for solving blockchain computation. Above all, it is hard to judge the length of hash when someone tries to crack a blockchain network. These reasons make hashing an essential function in Blockchain.
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