What is the importance of hashing in data security?

What is the importance of hashing in data security?

Hashing is crucial for data security as it transforms data into a fixed-size string of characters, which is unique to the original data.

How does hashing protect passwords?

Hashing protects passwords by storing only the hash value, not the actual password, making it difficult for attackers to retrieve the original password.

Are all hashing algorithms equally secure?

No, not all hashing algorithms are equally secure. Some, like SHA-256, are more secure than older ones like MD5.

What happens if a hash function is compromised?

If a hash function is compromised, attackers can potentially reverse-engineer the original data, leading to security breaches.