Hash value: what is it? Explained in a simple and understandable way

If you want to encrypt a message, the hash value is for you. We explain exactly what is behind the term in this practical tip.

Hash value - what is it?

When you send a message to a friend, the message should arrive in encrypted form without third parties having access to it. The hash value has a fixed length to send messages encrypted.

• Checksum: Hash values ​​are checksums that are used to encrypt messages of variable length. A specific hash value is assigned to each message. Hash values ​​are fingerprints of a very long data set.
• Collision: Two encrypted messages must not have the same hash value. In this case there is a collision.
• Conclusions: You cannot draw any conclusions about the given message from the hash value. If you save passwords, for example, you can no longer deduce the passwords because their hash values ​​are saved.
• Compare: You can use the hash value to compare whether two records are identical or not. You check whether a data record has been changed by someone. This allows a virus scanner to determine whether a file has been infected by a virus and whether the file has been modified accordingly.

In the next practical tip we will explain what a database is