Una función de hash es una función para resumir un gran conjunto de datos, dando como resultado otro conjunto de datos finito, generalmente menor. Varían en los conjuntos de partida y de llegada y en cómo afectan a la salida similitudes o patrones de la entrada. Una propiedad fundamental del hashing es que si dos resultados de una misma función son diferentes, entonces las dos entradas que generaron dichos resultados también lo son.
What are digital signatures?
Relation to hand-written signatures
We are all familiar with the act of stamping our signature in paper documents. In fact we are fully confident in the legality of this mechanism. A digital signature is a computer-based system, with the same legal validity which allows us to affix our signature on a digital document.
Why is it necessary?
The computer has become an essential tool for us in both personal and professional surroundings. When we being to create a document, we always tend to produce it on a computer. Another fact to which we are so accustomed that we no longer consider important, is that email allows us to send these documents in their original format without having to turn it on paper. In this context, it was necessary to create a mechanism to allow us to replace the handwritten signature, applicable only to paper, with a digital form. This digital form is what we call digital signature.
