Skein (hash function)
| General | |
|---|---|
| Designers | Bruce Schneier, Niels Ferguson, et al. |
| Derived from | Threefish |
| Certification | SHA-3 finalist |
| Detail | |
| Digest sizes | arbitrary |
| Structure | Unique Block Iteration |
| Rounds | 72 (256 & 512 block size), 80 (1024 block size) |
| Speed | 6.1 cpb on Core 2. |
Skein is a cryptographic hash function and one of five finalists in the NIST hash function competition. Entered as a candidate to become the SHA-3 standard, the successor of SHA-1 and SHA-2, it ultimately lost to NIST hash candidate Keccak.
The name Skein refers to how the Skein function intertwines the input, similar to a skein of yarn.