Original Content by Spencer Whetstone on
March 13, 2021
Inspired by @psyrax
https://discord.com/channels/334085157441110017/334085157441110017/820157889704230934
Hashing is the generation a value or values from a string of text or a binary file using a mathematical function. This value is often called a checksum.
Hashing is a security function, in which the software’s author can provide assurance to the user that the software has not been altered in any way. A malicious actor could clone, decompile, make changes such as sweeping the balance of all addresses in a wallet to an unknown address. Unfortunately, users have fallen victim to this sort of fraud.
A formula generates the hash, the author of the software publishes the hash on the site where the software is hosted. A user can download the software and check its hash value with that published by the author.
If the hashes are compared and do not match, then the user should discard the file without using it, as it probably fraudulent malware.
As an example, you can verify the checksum or hash value of the Sphere by Horizen installer files. The repository for Sphere by Horizen is located at:
https://github.com/HorizenOfficial/Sphere_by_Horizen/releases/tag/desktop-v1.2.9-beta
Here are commands that can be executed on any of the supported Operating Systems.
openssl dgst -sha256 ~/Downloads/Sphere_by_Horizen-1.2.9-beta.dmg |
Open a Powershell command window and run:
get-filehash -path filename.exe -Algorithm SHA256 | format-list |
Example - modify the "myname" portion of the command to match your Windows User Account
get-filehash -path c:\Users\myname\Downloads\Sphere_by_Horizen-1.2.9-beta.exe -Algorithm SHA256 | format-list |
or
Open a Windows 10 Command Prompt window and run:
certutil -hashfile path filename.exe SHA256 |
Example - modify the "myname" portion of the command to match your Windows User Account
certutil -hashfile c:\Users\myname\Downloads\Sphere_by_Horizen-1.2.9-beta.exe SHA256 |
openssl dgst -sha256 ~/Downloads/Sphere_by_Horizen-1.2.9-beta.deb |
It can be obtained from https://quickhash-gui.org/ .