SHA-512

SHA-512 is a 512 bit long hash (given the name) from the SHA family.

The hash works in such a way that it has 4 stages to digest it:

• Input Formatting

• Hash buffer initialization

• Processing

• Result

The formatting is done by taking the original input, appending 0's to it until it reaches a fixed value of a 1024 multiplier because this is how the algorithm processes data block.

The buffer initialization works in 8 registers which are derived from the square roots of the first 8 prime numbers. These values are called the Initial Vectors.

Processing happens in 1024 bit chunks, each block is expanded into 80 "words" of 64 bits and it runs through 80 rounds of processing.

The final result from the buffer will be a 512 bit hashed value of the original message.

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