What role does cryptographic hashing play in protecting data integrity during transmission?

Cryptographic hashing preserves data integrity during network transmissions and prevents tampering by creating a fixed-size output (hash) from any input data. This hash is unique to the specific input data and is calculated using a hashing algorithm. If even a small change is made to the input data, the resulting hash will be significantly different, serving as a checksum. By comparing the received hash with the recalculated hash of the received data, it’s possible to determine if the data has been altered during transmission. This process ensures the integrity of the data and helps detect any unauthorized modifications.