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Turning data into a one-way “fingerprint”.

Definition

Hashing transforms data into a fixed-length value. Good hashing is one-way: you can’t easily recover the original data from the hash.

In plain English Turning data into a one-way “fingerprint”.

Why this matters

Why it matters: Passwords are often stored as hashes; weak hashing makes leaks more dangerous.

Example

Example: A website stores password hashes instead of plain passwords.