TARU PUBLICATIONS
Journal of Discrete Mathematical Sciences and Cryptography cover

Journal of Discrete Mathematical Sciences and Cryptography

(Since 1998)
Open Access ·Peer-reviewed·ISSN (Online): 2169-0065·ISSN (Print): 0972-0529

CiteScore 2025: 2.7 (Q1)

Powered by:Powered by

Monthly Journal: Publishes theoretical and applied research in all areas of Discrete Mathematical Sciences, Cryptography, Combinatorics, Elliptic Curves and Information Security.

Issues up to 2022 co-published with and available at:Taylor & Francis Online
submissions@tarupublications.com
Taru Online First Current IssueSpecial IssuesBrowse all Issues
Journal of Discrete Mathematical Sciences and Cryptography
Open Access Research Article

Modification of SHA-256 hashing algorithm in protecting website service user passwords

, , , *

* Corresponding author · click or hover a name for details

pp. 2397–2407Vol. 28Issue 6September 2025DOI: 10.47974/JDMSC-2310 Crossmark XML
Received:
10 Sep 2024
Published Online:
14 Aug 2025
Article type:
Research Article
Language:
EN
Article no.:
JDMSC-2310
Pages:
2397–2407

Abstract

The SHA-256 algorithm is still quite popular in password encryption for website user account logins and digital signature encryption. The security of SHA-256 lies in using a one-way hash function that cannot return the message to its original form. However, there are currently many tools on the internet that provide SHA-256 message decryption services so that the original message is obtained. This is what causes the security level of SHA-256 to be less good. For this reason, experts have introduced several improvements to SHA-256. One researcher has modified SHA-256 by adding the Hill Cipher algorithm. This aims to produce a different message digest so that it is not easily described by the decryption provider tool. However, hacking by tools on the internet is still possible using the Hill Cipher algorithm. Using the inverse (reverse) of the key matrix in the Hill Cipher allows the ciphertext to be converted back into plaintext, so there is always a chance of hacking by finding the inverse of the key matrix. For this reason, this study proposes improvements to SHA-256 by adding Hill Cipher modifications. Researchers still use SHA-256 to produce a message digest in the early stages. Furthermore, the resulting message digest will be forwarded with a modification of the Hill Cipher with a singular matrix key (it does not have an inverse). The use of a singular key matrix will invalidate the opportunity for hacking through an inverse matrix attack. In the final stage, researchers will test the execution speed of the proposed system.

Keywords

SHA modificationSHA-256Hill cipher 256Hashing modificationCipher modification

Subject Classifications

94A6068P2515A15

References

[1] S. Shahapure, V. Sule, and R. D. Daruwala, “Variation and security enhancement of block ciphers by embedding,” J. Discret. Math. Sci. Cryptogr., vol. 22, no. 2, pp. 151–160 (2019), doi: 10.1080/09720529.2019.1576336.
[2] D. Rachmawati, J. T. Tarigan, and A. B. C. Ginting, “A comparative study of Message Digest 5(MD5) and SHA256 algorithm,” J. Phys. Conf. Ser., vol. 978, no. 1 (2018), doi: 10.1088/1742-6596/978/1/012116.
[3] R. Martino and A. Cilardo, “Designing a SHA-256 processor for blockchain-based IoT applications,” Internet of Things (Netherlands), vol. 11, p. 100254 (2020), doi: 10.1016/j.iot.2020.100254.
[4] R. Fotohi and F. Shams Aliee, “Securing communication between things using blockchain technology based on authentication and SHA-256 to improving scalability in large-scale IoT,” Comput. Networks, vol. 197, no. May, p. 108331 (2021), doi: 10.1016/j.comnet.2021.108331.
[5] M. D. Mohanty et al., “Design of Smart and Secured Healthcare Service Using Deep Learning with Modified SHA-256 Algorithm,” Healthc., vol. 10, no. 7, pp. 1–16 (2022), doi: 10.3390/healthcare10071275.
[6] K. Sagar and A. Saha, “The effect of user variables on academic websites usability : An empirical study,” J. Stat. Manag. Syst., vol. 22, no. 2, pp. 161–186 (2019), doi: 10.1080/09720510.2019.1580898.
[7] Y. Chen and S. Li, “A high-throughput hardware implementation of SHA-256 algorithm,” Proc. - IEEE Int. Symp. Circuits Syst., vol. 2020-Octob, pp. 17–20 (2020), doi: 10.1109/iscas45731.2020.9181065.
[8] M. Kammoun, M. Elleuchi, M. Abid, and M. S. Bensaleh, “FPGA-based implementation of the SHA-256 hash algorithm,” DTS 2020 - IEEE Int. Conf. Des. Test Integr. Micro Nano-Systems (2020), doi: 10.1109/DTS48731.2020.9196134.
[9] S. Zhu, C. Zhu, and W. Wang, “A new image encryption algorithm based on chaos and secure hash SHA-256,” Entropy, vol. 20, no. 9 (2018), doi: 10.3390/e20090716.
[10] Aqeel-ur-Rehman, X. Liao, A. Kulsoom, and S. Ullah, “A modified (Dual) fusion technique for image encryption using SHA-256 hash and multiple chaotic maps,” Multimed. Tools Appl., vol. 75, no. 18, pp. 11241–11266 (2016), doi: 10.1007/s11042-015-2851-7.
[11] Z. Panjaitan, E. F. Ginting, and Y. Yusnidah, “Modifikasi SHA-256 dengan Algoritma Hill Cipher untuk Pengamanan Fungsi Hash dari Upaya Decode Hash,” J. SAINTIKOM (Jurnal Sains Manaj. Inform. dan Komputer), vol. 19, no. 1, p. 53 (2020), doi: 10.53513/jis.v19i1.225.
[12] P. Sundarayya and G. Vara Prasad, “A public key cryptosystem using Affine Hill Cipher under modulation of prime number,” J. Inf. Optim. Sci., vol. 40, no. 4, pp. 919–930 (2019), doi: 10.1080/02522667.2018.1470751.
[13] Maxrizal, “Public Key Cryptosystem Based on Singular Matrix,” Trends Sci., vol. 19, no. 3, p. 2147 (2022), doi: 10.48048/tis.2022.2147.
[14] H. Anton and C. Rorres, Elementary Linear Algebra: Applications Version, 9th ed. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (2005).
[15] D. S. Dummit and R. M. Foote, Abstract Algebra, 3rd ed. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (2004).

Views: 264Downloads: 150Citations: 0