How to Use Message Digest to Verify the Integrity?
When we provide any message to a hash function then it generates a message digest. Now that message digest is used to verify the integrity of the original message
Steps to verify Integrity of Original Message-
- Generate a message digest by passing the original message with a hash function
- Store that Digest with Message in one place and send that collectively
- At the receiver end use the same Hash Function to produce a new message digest from the received message
- If the new message digest is the same as the previous message digest then it is confirmed that the Integrity of the message is preserved
- Otherwise, the Message is changed in between the transmissions and the Integrity of the Message is compromised.
What is the difference between a digest and a hash function?
Digest and Hash Functions are two important aspects of cryptography. In cryptography, we pass an input text from any algorithm that generates some secured text. Now that algorithm is called a hash function and that secured text is called a digest. From here we can conclude that in cryptography we pass original text from the hash function to generate a digest.