Question 4 OR (a) part i

Hash function

3 marks

Time to write
About 6 minutes

From an older CBCS paper

Question

Question 4 OR (a) part i · 3 marks

Define each of these terms:

  1. A hash function

Reworded from the university paper; the task is the same. The original paper belongs to the University of Delhi. See DU's question bank.

Before you write

Read off the question and its marks

6 minfor 3 marks

Read from the question

  • DefineA precise definition in one or two lines.

What the paper leaves open

This older-course question examines the Information Technology Act, 2000, which the current UGCF Business Laws syllabus does not name; it is answered as printed. Marked as one question of 9 marks; answered here in 3 parts of 3 marks each (marks inferred).

Write it in this order

  1. 1 (i) Hash function 3 marks 6 min

Try it first. About 6 minutes for 3 marks. Write it out, then open the solution.

Solution

Hover or tap a marked figure, like 72,000, to see how it is made and where else it appears.

(i) Hash function. A hash function, as the IT Act explains it (Explanation to s. 3(2)), is a mathematical procedure that takes an electronic record of any length and turns it into a short fixed "hash result", a kind of digital fingerprint of the record. Three properties make it useful:

  • Consistency: the same record always gives the same hash result, while even a small change, such as a comma, will in practice give a different one;
  • One-way: the original record cannot practically be worked out from its hash result;
  • Collision resistance: it is computationally infeasible to find two different records that give the same hash result.

These properties are why the Act uses it, together with an asymmetric crypto system, to authenticate electronic records by digital signature. When a company e-files a return, the hash of the file is signed; if anyone alters the file afterwards, its hash will in practice no longer match, and the tampering shows.

Where the 3 marks sit

#ComponentMarks
1(i) Hash function3
Total3
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