Security Hash Algorithm (SHA)

A cryptographic hash function often used to secure government agencies. SHA employs cryptographic hash functions designed by the United States National Security Agency (NSA) and published by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) as a Federal Information Processing Standard. There are three types of SHA algorithms, SHA-0, SHA-1, and SHA-2. The most commonly used version is SHA-1, which is a Federal Information Processing Standard. See also hash value.