Full definition
Part of the SHA-2 family published by NIST in 2001. Properties: deterministic (same input always produces same output), collision-resistant (computationally infeasible to find 2 inputs with same hash), avalanche (1-bit change flips ~50% of hash). Used in Bitcoin (proof of work), TLS, digital signatures, file integrity. In forensic recovery, SHA-256 is used for chain of custody: when copying the original media, the SHA-256 hash of original and bit-by-bit copy is computed. Identical hash mathematically proves the copy is integral. Legal documents accept SHA-256 as non-tampering evidence.
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