About SHA224 hash
SHA-224 is a variant of the SHA-2 (Secure Hash Algorithm 2) family of cryptographic hash functions. It produces a 224-bit (28-byte) hash value, which is typically represented as a 56-character hexadecimal number. SHA-224 is based on the same principles as other SHA-2 algorithms but produces shorter hash values compared to SHA-256.
How SHA-224 Works:
- Padding: Similar to other SHA-2 algorithms, SHA-224 pads the input message so that its length is a multiple of 512 bits, leaving space for the representation of the message length.
- Appending Length: The length of the original message (in bits) is appended to the end of the padded message.
- Initializing Variables: SHA-224 initializes eight variables to fixed constants. These variables are used as the initial hash value for the algorithm.
- Processing Message in Blocks: The padded message is processed in 512-bit blocks. Each block goes through a series of operations including bitwise logical operations, bitwise rotations, and additions modulo 2^32.
- Updating the Hash Value: The hash value is updated after processing each block of the message.
- Output: Once all blocks have been processed, the resulting hash value is the SHA-224 hash of the input message.
SHA-224 offers a compromise between the shorter hash length of SHA-1 and the longer hash lengths of SHA-256 and SHA-512. It provides stronger security compared to SHA-1 while still maintaining a relatively small output size. Like other SHA-2 variants, SHA-224 is widely used in various security applications and protocols where strong cryptographic hashing is required.