Thread: File Encryption

Originally Posted by Jack Walters

So, what if I wanted to use hashes to encrypt files? Only problem is, I cant decrypt them.

To me, hashes are a method to "checksum" a file to ensure it hasn't been tampered with. That can be used in conjunction with encryption if you want, e.g. in the encrypted file, add another x bytes that is the md5sum of the file [or whatever hash you want to use].

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Mats

Originally Posted by Jack Walters

Okay, I just am familiar with hashes being used to encrypt passwords.

Yes, that's a common way to "store" passwords. Since the hashing method "looses" some data irretrievably, you can't just reverse calculate the value to get the original password.

You could of course hash the password the user gives you and use that as the actual XOR key, for example.

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Mats