SHA-1

The final project of my ICS 212 class was to implement a SHA-1 algorithm and it was first step into cybersecurity. We had the opportunity to be introduced to hash algorithms, which is a important component in computer security. There were alot of conceptual aspects introduced such as padding binary messages with zeros until its length is 512 mod 488. This was very important since each message digest will always output a 40 digit value. By padding it allows for any message no matter the length it may be, to be divided evenly in a uniform way as it outputs the message digest with a consistent digit value. There were many important questions I had regarding this project. Luckily all the information I needed was online and how I asked the question played an important part. The smarter questions did lead to better results and I ended up learning more about each topic than I originally expected. Seeing how meticulous all the components are when it comes to the SHA-1 algorithm made me think about computer security today. From this basic algorithm which is no longer used today, there are millions of possible ways to improve and further enhance security algorithms.