Tag: SHA-256 hashing

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I am staring at countless puzzles. Each puzzle represents a different problem or task I need to solve. Today, I’ve got two particularly fascinating puzzles in front of me. One is a secretive chest that needs a special key, and the other is a map that transforms into a unique pattern once completed.

The first puzzle, the secretive chest, is like symmetric encryption, such as AES. Picture this: I have a locked chest, and the only way to open it is with a specific key. This key is something I have, and if I want to share the treasure inside with a friend, I need to give them the exact same key. The key is our shared secret. It’s like when I use AES encryption to secure my information and need to share the same key with someone else to decrypt it.

Now, on to the second puzzle, the map, which is akin to a hashing algorithm like SHA-256. I carefully place each piece of the map together, and as I do, it’s like I’m solving a one-way puzzle. Once the map is complete, it reveals a unique and intricate design that can’t be simply reversed to get the original pieces back. This is like hashing. Once I hash a message with SHA-256, it transforms into a fixed-length string of characters, a unique fingerprint of the original message. Unlike the chest, there’s no key to unlock the original message from this fingerprint. It’s a one-way street.

So, there I am, navigating these two puzzles. The secretive chest with its shared key represents the secure, reversible process of symmetric encryption, while the map stands for the irreversible, unique transformation of hashing. Each has its own role in the world of securing secrets and verifying integrity, just like the puzzles that challenge and fascinate me.

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First, for the secretive chest, which is like symmetric encryption, I use the crypto module in Node.js. Here’s a simple example of how I might encrypt and decrypt a message using AES:

const crypto = require('crypto');

// Secret key for AES (must be 32 bytes for AES-256)
const secretKey = crypto.randomBytes(32);
const iv = crypto.randomBytes(16);

function encrypt(text) {
    const cipher = crypto.createCipheriv('aes-256-cbc', secretKey, iv);
    let encrypted = cipher.update(text, 'utf8', 'hex');
    encrypted += cipher.final('hex');
    return encrypted;
}

function decrypt(encryptedText) {
    const decipher = crypto.createDecipheriv('aes-256-cbc', secretKey, iv);
    let decrypted = decipher.update(encryptedText, 'hex', 'utf8');
    decrypted += decipher.final('utf8');
    return decrypted;
}

const message = "This is a secret message!";
const encryptedMessage = encrypt(message);
const decryptedMessage = decrypt(encryptedMessage);

console.log(`Encrypted: ${encryptedMessage}`);
console.log(`Decrypted: ${decryptedMessage}`);

Here, I use the AES-256-CBC encryption algorithm, representing how I lock and unlock the chest with a secret key.

Next, let’s tackle the map, using SHA-256 to hash a message. This is how I create the unique, irreversible pattern:

const hash = crypto.createHash('sha256');

const data = "This is a message to hash";
hash.update(data);

const hashedData = hash.digest('hex');
console.log(`Hashed: ${hashedData}`);

In this snippet, I create a SHA-256 hash of my message, akin to assembling the map that reveals a unique pattern.

Key Takeaways:

1. Symmetric Encryption (AES): In JavaScript, AES encryption involves a shared secret key for both encrypting and decrypting data. It’s like having a key to unlock a chest.
2. Hashing (SHA-256): Hashing creates a unique, irreversible signature of data. It’s similar to completing a puzzle that, once finished, can’t be taken apart to find the original pieces.
3. JavaScript Crypto Module: The crypto module in Node.js provides tools for implementing these cryptographic techniques, helping us secure and verify data.