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SESK: Stuff Everyone Should Know · sesk.info/secplus-cia-integrity

A file's hash value no longer matches after someone edits the file. Which CIA property was affected?

Integrity, data was changed when it should not have been.

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  1. Confidentiality
  2. Integrity ✔
  3. Availability

Why: Integrity means information is not improperly modified or destroyed. A hash works like a fingerprint, so a changed file gives a different value.

Huh, didn't know that: FIPS 180-4 says any change to a message will, with very high probability, produce a different message digest.

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Why did the hash break up with the file? It could not handle any change.
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References

Answer: Integrity. Integrity means information is not improperly modified or destroyed. A hash works like a fingerprint, so a changed file gives a different value.

  1. NIST CSRC Glossary: integrity csrc.nist.gov/glossary/term/integrity
    Guarding against improper information modification or destruction
    Checked 2026-10-11.
  2. FIPS 180-4, Secure Hash Standard nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/FIPS/NIST.FIPS.180-4.pdf
    Any change to a message will, with a very high probability, result in a different message digest.
    Checked 2026-10-11.

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