Hash

A utility for returning various hashes of a given string.

What is a Hash?

A hash is a one way (irreversible) digest of a given string. This allows allows a third party to verify sensitive data without needing to know what that data is. A common use case is password based authentication. As a service provider, I can store a hash of a password rather than the plain text of the password. Using the same algorithm we used for storage, we can later compare the given text to the stored hash. This allows us to store passwords with out knowing what they are.