In the diagram below, "T" designates a transaction, "H" a hash. Note that the image is highly simplified; a block can contain hundreds or thousands of transactions.

Hash functions are algorithms that determine how information is encrypted. For example, Secure Hashing Algorithm 256 (SHA-256) goes through a process to encrypt the input it receives by: ...

The hash functions SHA-256 and RIPEMD-160 make this possible, in a functional one-way and secure fashion. This is a guest post by Dawdu Amantanah.

For more than six years, the SHA1 cryptographic hash function underpinning Internet security has been at death's door.Now it's officially dead, thanks to the submission of the first known instance ...

With a strong hash function it is almost impossible to reverse the hash value to its original content. The National Security Agency (NSA) designed the SHA-1 cryptographic hash function 10 years ago.