Hashing and Data Integrity
Hashing is where the data inside a document is hashed using an algorithm, such as a Secure Hash Algorithm Version 1 (SHA1), SHA2, SHA3, and MD5. This turns the data inside the file into a long text string known as a hash value; this is also known as a message digest.
While you are hashing the same data, if you copy a file and therefore have two files containing the same data, then hash them with the same hashing algorithm. It will always produce the same hash value. Let's look at the following examples on hashing and data integrity:
- Verifying Integrity: During forensic analysis, a scientist takes a copy of the data before investigation. To ensure that they have not tampered with it during the investigation, they will hash the data before starting and then compare the hash to the data when finished. If the hash matches, then they know that the integrity of the data is intact.
- One-Way Function: For the exam, hashing is a one-way...
