What is SHA1?
SHA1, or Secure Hash Algorithm 1, is a cryptographic hash function created by the United States National Security Agency NSA and introduced in 1995. It generates a 160-bit hash value from any input, which is typically represented as a 40-bit hexadecimal number.
SHA1 offered a simple way to verify the integrity pakistan telegram data and authenticity of data, and was originally used to secure digital signatures and certificates. However, its vulnerabilities, particularly to collision attacks where two different inputs can produce the same hash value, led to its deprecation in favor of more secure algorithms. Despite its historical importance, SHA1’s security flaws mean you should no longer use it for most modern applications, pushing you to move on to stronger hash functions.
SHA2, or Secure Hash Algorithm 2, was developed by the NSA and released in 2001 as the successor to SHA1. It includes a set of hash functions such as SHA-224, SHA-256, SHA-384, and SHA-512, each providing different levels of security and hash lengths. SHA2 uses the Merkle-Damgard structure with the Davies-Meyer compression function, which increases its resistance to cryptographic attacks.