A Hash Function System Based on Quadratic Function

A hash function is a function that takes a set of characters called plaintext and converts it to a form that is very difficult to revert back to the original set of characters. Hash functions play very important role in computer security, computer vision, bloom filters and search algorithms. The current cryptographic hash functions such as Hashed Message Authentication Code (HMAC), Message Digest (MD) and Secure Hash Algorithm (SHA) including their various variations generate large values for small data and are therefore not appropriate for encrypting large number of small data – such as passwords of organizational members – that need to be stored and retrieved in a database. This paper presents a robust mechanism for implementing a hash function that returns eight characters irrespective of the length of the input string. The mechanism is based on quadratic function. The model is implemented in JavaSE and available for downloading freely at http://www.api.skopoku.org/QuadraticHash.jar Keywords— Block size, Computer Security, Cryptography, Digital Signature, Hash, Quadratic root