“Sorry. That’s not how it works.”
Interesting. I get the concept. A hash is sort of a checksum, huh?
No, it is not. A hash is a numerical code that is created from the password or passcode that is entered by the user. It is usually a one-way result of an algorithm that is a representation of the passcode that can be compared against a stored version that was created earlier. A hash may include alphanumerical characters and symbols. The algorithm that creates it will result in the same unique results every time that the same input is entered, but never create a similar result for any other input. Even a single character change in the input would make a drastic change in the output of the algorithm that would provide ZERO information to determine anything about how that single character change affected that result. For all extents and purposes, the result appears random.
A check sum will result in a similar result that can repeat with multiple inputs. It could be said it is a crude example of a hash, but only in a very limited way. Check sums are not random.
It is almost exactly like a checksum. :-)
The following are all various hashes of the same input. Generally today most folks up on this kind of stuff consider a checksum, md5sum and sha1sum to all be more or less broken because ways have been found to force collisions in them given today's CPU power available. Naturally, the more complex the hash, the longer they take to execute. As such I can see a place for md5 and sha1 for applications that do not require a great deal of security. If you want to be safe though you'd go with sha256 or sha512.
$ echo "This is a test" | cksum 528700049 15 $ echo "This is a test" | md5sum ff22941336956098ae9a564289d1bf1b - $ echo "This is a test" | sha1sum 3c1bb0cd5d67dddc02fae50bf56d3a3a4cbc7204 - $ echo "This is a test" | sha224sum 630bc085ac64cd003b1d533cd77b438a1a0aa14b9d45d697b71d1c46 - $ echo "This is a test" | sha256sum 9d63c3b5b7623d1fa3dc7fd1547313b9546c6d0fbbb6773a420613b7a17995c8 - $ echo "This is a test" | sha512sum 62f1c73922ba448579d9229f932e747c23d53400a6fb826c6ea5f478247420c62b681cd636840e0ae8556bcde856a24c0123c501aa3967c42530e3be8cb6de75 -