Cyclic Redundancy Check

/ˌsiː-ɑːr-ˈsiː/

n. “The digital fingerprint that checks your data for errors.”

CRC, short for Cyclic Redundancy Check, is an error-detecting code used in digital networks and storage devices to detect accidental changes to raw data. By applying a mathematical algorithm to the data, CRC generates a fixed-size checksum (also called a CRC value) that can be used to verify data integrity during transmission or storage.

Key characteristics of CRC include:

HMAC

/ˈeɪtʃ-ˌmæk/

n. “Authenticate it, don’t just trust it.”

HMAC, or Hash-based Message Authentication Code, is a cryptographic construction that combines a secret key with a hash function, such as SHA256 or SHA512, to provide both message integrity and authentication. Unlike simple hashes, which only verify that data hasn’t changed, HMAC ensures that the message came from someone who knows the secret key, effectively adding a layer of trust on top of data verification.

NIST

/nɪst/

n. “The rulebook authors for the digital age.”

NIST, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, is a United States federal agency that quietly but fundamentally shapes the rules and frameworks of modern computing, cryptography, and measurement standards. Founded in 1901 as the National Bureau of Standards, it has grown into the authority that provides the guidelines, benchmarks, and reference materials upon which engineers, developers, and security professionals rely worldwide.

SHA256

/ˌes-eɪtʃ-eɪ-ˈtuː-fɪfti-sɪks/

n. “Proves what you have… and that it hasn’t been quietly touched since.”

SHA256 is a modern cryptographic hashing algorithm designed for a world that learned its lessons the hard way. Where MD5 trusted too easily and paid for it later, SHA256  assumes the environment is hostile, the inputs are adversarial, and someone is always trying to cheat the math.

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