Security Beginner

What is Hashing?

A one-way function that converts input data into a fixed-size string of characters, used for data integrity and password storage.

Hash functions produce a unique, fixed-length digest from any input. Unlike encryption, hashing is irreversible — you cannot recover the original data from the hash. Any change in input produces a completely different hash.

Uses include password storage (bcrypt, Argon2), file integrity verification (SHA-256), digital signatures, and data deduplication. Never use MD5 or SHA-1 for security — they are considered broken.

Related Terms

CSRF (Cross-Site Request Forgery)

An attack that tricks authenticated users into submitting unwanted requests to a web application they are logged into.

An authorization framework that allows third-party applications to access user resources without sharing passwords.

DAST (Dynamic Application Security Testing)

Testing a running application from the outside by sending malicious requests to discover security vulnerabilities.

SOC (Security Operations Center)

A centralized team and facility responsible for monitoring, detecting, analyzing, and responding to cybersecurity threats 24/7.

Data Loss Prevention (DLP)

A strategy and set of tools that detect and prevent unauthorized transmission of sensitive data outside an organization.

The process of converting readable data into an unreadable format using algorithms, reversible only with the correct key.

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