Questioning the Criteria for Evaluating Non-Cryptographic Hash Functions.

This article examines the criteria used to evaluate non-cryptographic hash functions, which prioritize speed and efficiency over security. While these functions aim to uniformly distribute inputs across resources, challenges such as input patterns, modulo bias, and limitations in uniformity remain....

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Publicado en:Communications of the ACM Vol. 68; no. 2; pp. 46 - 52
Autores principales: Hayes, Catherine, Malone, David
Formato: Artículo
Publicado: Association for Computing Machinery Feb2025
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Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
Descripción
Sumario:This article examines the criteria used to evaluate non-cryptographic hash functions, which prioritize speed and efficiency over security. While these functions aim to uniformly distribute inputs across resources, challenges such as input patterns, modulo bias, and limitations in uniformity remain. Traditional measures like the avalanche criterion may not fully address real-world needs, as they focus more on randomizing input-output relationships than practical distribution in hash tables. The discussion highlights the need for tailored approaches to hash function design, balancing efficiency with application-specific requirements, and questions the feasibility of a one-size-fits-all solution.