What is the difference between hashing and encryption?

Hashing and encryption are both cryptographic techniques used to secure data, but they serve different purposes.

Hashing:

– Hashing is a one-way function that takes input data and produces a fixed-size string of characters (the hash value).

– The primary purpose of hashing is for data integrity verification, such as ensuring that transmitted or stored data has not been altered.

– Hashing algorithms are designed to be fast and generate a unique hash value, making it difficult to reverse-engineer the original data from the hash.

– Hashing does not involve decryption, as the hash value cannot be reverted back to the original data.

– Hashing is commonly used in password storage, digital signatures, and checksums.

Encryption:

– Encryption is a two-way function that transforms data into a format that can only be read with the corresponding decryption key.

– The main goal of encryption is to protect sensitive data confidentiality by making it unreadable to unauthorized users.

– Encryption algorithms use keys to encrypt and decrypt data, ensuring that only the intended recipient can access the original information.

– Encryption can be symmetric (using the same key for encryption and decryption) or asymmetric (using different keys for encryption and decryption).

– Encryption is widely employed in securing communications, data storage, and protecting sensitive information.

In summary, hashing is used for data integrity verification and cannot be reversed, while encryption is utilized for data confidentiality and requires decryption to revert data back to its original form.