About SHA-1

SHA-1 (Secure Hash Algorithm 1) is a cryptographic hash function that produces a 160-bit (40-character hexadecimal) hash value. It was designed by the United States National Security Agency (NSA) and was published in 1995 as a successor to SHA-0.

Although SHA-1 was once widely used, it has since been found to have significant security vulnerabilities. In 2005, researchers demonstrated practical collision attacks against SHA-1, meaning it is possible to generate two different messages that produce the same hash. As a result, SHA-1 is no longer considered secure for cryptographic applications.