Hayes, Catherine (2023) Non-Cryptographic Hash Functions: Focus on FNV. Masters thesis, National University of Ireland Maynooth.

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Abstract

In this thesis, we will explore the world of hash functions. After a brief overview of the construction and uses of cryptographic hashes, we will then focus almost exclusively on non-cryptographic functions. We delve into the FNV family of hash functions in significant detail, examining their background, structure and motivation. We then introduce some well-known peer functions, against which FNV can be tested. We lay out our test parameters, where we will utilise hash tables, a variety of input types, and explain our choice of load factor, collision management and more. We run rigorous tests measuring distribution, collision resistance and avalanche effect which highlight some significant differences in performance. The observed test results are examined in detail, with explanations provided for the varying performances of the functions. These results also provoked some interesting questions around the accepted methodology for measuring the performance of non-cryptographic hash functions, particularly the relevance of the avalanche effect. We examine published works which reference this metric and discover that, perhaps, its usefulness has been overstated. We finally consider collision resistance in a more abstract sense, examining how each function performs when tested with a more challenging input size.

Item Type:	Thesis (Masters)
Keywords:	Non-Cryptographic Hash Functions; Focus on FNV;
Academic Unit:	Faculty of Science and Engineering > Mathematics and Statistics
Item ID:	18141
Depositing User:	IR eTheses
Date Deposited:	13 Feb 2024 15:33
URI:
Use Licence:	This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available here

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