SHA-3
also: SHA3, Keccak
SHA-3 is the latest standard cryptographic hash function family approved by the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), designed to generate fixed-size fingerprints of data for integrity verification and security applications.
SHA-3 (Secure Hash Algorithm 3) is the third generation of the SHA family, finalized by NIST in 2015. It produces hash digests of various lengths (224, 256, 384, or 512 bits) and is based on the Keccak algorithm, which uses a fundamentally different construction than its predecessors SHA-1 and SHA-2.
Unlike SHA-2, SHA-3 uses a sponge construction rather than a Merkle-Damgård structure, making it more resistant to certain theoretical attacks and providing better security margins. It processes data through absorption and squeezing phases to produce cryptographic output.
In Linux systems, SHA-3 is commonly used in password hashing, digital signatures, and data integrity checks. You can generate SHA-3 hashes using tools like sha3sum or through OpenSSL: echo 'hello' | openssl dgst -sha3-256
While SHA-2 remains the most widely deployed, SHA-3 is increasingly adopted for new security systems and is considered the future standard for cryptographic hashing in Linux and beyond.