Integrity

Tampering detection relies on a mathematical function called a one-way hash. A hash is a function that reduces a variable amount of data to a fixed-size quantity. The hash is computed by the originator and sent together with the data. The recipient recomputes the hash from the data and compares against the hash it received. The data has not been modified if the two values match. The hash is not sufficient to prove data integrity because an attacker can replace both the message and the hash in transit. To address that, we need digital signatures.


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