After hiking today, I headed to the library and delved into the fascinating world of hashing and digital signatures through the video Hashing and Digital Signatures – CompTIA Security+ SY0-701 – 1.4. I learned that cryptographic hashes, such as SHA-256, are crucial for secure data integrity. These hashes are one-way functions producing 256-bit outputs represented by 64 hex characters. The concept of collisions—where different inputs produce the same hash—was intriguing, with MD5 being a classic example. Password security improves with salting, where random values combine with passwords to thwart rainbow table attacks.
Digital signatures also stood out as a powerful tool for ensuring message authenticity. They work by hashing plaintext and verifying it with the sender’s digital signature using a public key. It was fascinating to see how hashing ties into various cybersecurity applications. Despite an enriching learning session, I didn’t have time to explore job opportunities today. Tomorrow, I plan to refocus on both my job search and further expanding my cybersecurity knowledge.
Think Positive Cyber 