📌 Hash-Based Message Authentication Summary

Hash-Based Message Authentication is a method used to check if a message has been altered and to confirm who sent it. It works by combining the message with a secret key and then applying a hash function, creating a unique code called a message authentication code (MAC). If the message changes, the code will not match, alerting the receiver to tampering or unauthorised access.

🙋🏻‍♂️ Explain Hash-Based Message Authentication Simply

Imagine you and your friend share a secret handshake. Every time you send a message, you include the handshake so your friend knows it is really from you and has not been changed by anyone else. If someone tries to fake the message but does not know the handshake, your friend will spot the difference right away.

📅 How Can it be used?

Use hash-based message authentication to secure API requests between a mobile app and its server.

🗺️ Real World Examples

Online banking apps use hash-based message authentication to ensure that transaction details sent from your phone to the bank server have not been changed by anyone else. The app and the server share a secret key, so only valid requests are accepted.

Cloud storage providers use hash-based message authentication when syncing files so that only authorised users can make changes to documents. This helps to prevent unauthorised access and data corruption.

✅ FAQ

Hash-based message authentication helps make sure that the message you receive is exactly what was sent and that it really came from the person you expect. If someone tries to change the message along the way, the special code created by the process will not match up, so you will know something is wrong.

Hash-based message authentication is designed to spot if your message has been tampered with or if someone is pretending to be the sender. However, it does not hide the message itself, so it does not keep the content secret from hackers. For privacy, you would also need encryption.

The secret key is important because it is shared only between the sender and the receiver. Without this key, no one else can create the correct code for the message. This means only someone with the key can send messages that will be accepted as genuine.

📚 Categories

• Cryptographic Primitives
• Cybersecurity
• Network Security

🔗 External Reference Links

Hash-Based Message Authentication link

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