What is SHA-512?

SHA-512 is a member of the SHA-2 family that produces a 512-bit (64-byte) hash value, displayed as 128 hexadecimal characters. It uses 64-bit operations and is faster than SHA-256 on 64-bit systems. SHA-512 offers the same security properties as SHA-256 but with a longer output, providing a larger security margin. Common uses include digital signatures, key derivation (e.g., HMAC), and secure password hashing when combined with algorithms like bcrypt or Argon2.