We unwittingly use hashing and encryption every day. These concepts seem similar, they are quite easy to confuse, but in fact, each of them is used for a specific purpose and has its characteristics.
Let’s see how the hashing process works
We are going to enter certain data. For this, we will use SHA-256 (a secure hashing algorithm from the SHA-2 family of 256 bits). As you can see, in the case of SHA-256, no matter how large your input is, the output will always be a fixed 256-bit length. This is extremely necessary when you are dealing with a huge amount of data and transactions.
So, instead of remembering the input, which can be huge, you can just remember the hash and keep track of it. Before proceeding, you need to become familiar with the various properties of hashing functions and how they are implemented in the blockchain.
So what happens if you use this method?
? Best-case scenario: You get your answer on the first try. You really have to be the happiest person in the world for this to happen. The likelihood of such an event is negligible.
☹Worst-case scenario: you get the answer after 2 ^ 128 – 1 times. This means you will find your answer at the end of all data calculations.
:/ Medium scenario: You will find it somewhere in the middle, so basically after 2 ^ 128/2 = 2 ^ 127 tries. In other words, this is a huge amount.
So it is possible to break through the inverse computation function using the brute-force method, but it will take very much time and computational resources, so it is useless.
Encryption
The point of encryption is to make the original message unreadable to anyone who does not own the key. Old or vulnerable ciphers are easily broken, although their purpose was precisely to hide the content of the message. Sounds not so fun, doesn’t it?
Modern and commercially available encryption systems – all or nearly all of the best of them – are built from components that are well known in design and operation. The only secret thing about them is the encryption key. There is only one significant exception known to be – a set of secret cryptographic protocols for all kinds of government organizations.