ERINDALE: A Polynomial Based Hashing Algorithm

The aim of this article is to describe a new has algorithm using polynomials over finite fields. In software, it runs at speeds comparable to SHA-384. Hardware implementation of a slightly modified version of the algorithm presented here runs at significantly faster speeds, namely at 2 Gbits/sec on an FPGA Virtex V of frequency 300 MHz. Modelling suggests that this speed can be increased to 3.4 Gbits/sec. Unlike most other existing has algorithms, our construction does not follows the Damgard-Merkle philosophy. The hash has several attractive features in terms of its flexibility. In particular, the length of the hash is a parameter that can be set at the outset. Moreover, the estimated degree of collision resistance is measured in terms of another parameter whose value can be varied.