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Having private conversations online is not so easy nowadays, but you can turn to simple text encryption tricks to try and exchange secrets with your friends. One cryptographic method means encoding the text using popular security algorithms, such as SHA1 or MD5, where the slightest modification has a major impact on the entire code. This is also a good solution for finding out if messages were not altered in any way from the moment they were sent until the moment they were received, by simply comparing their hash.

SHAsher is a tiny and simplistic app designed for this purpose. It can instantly encrypt text using the SHA1, SHA256, SHA384, SHA512 or MD5 hashing algorithms, depending on what you prefer. It doesn't require setup, so you can keep it stored in your collection of portable utilities as well as copy it to a USB flash drive to easily run it on any PC and encrypt messages.

The interface of the program is plain and simple, made from a single window that shows a box for typing or pasting the unencrypted message. By default, the text is encoded with all supported hash types. However, you can extend the main window to clear the boxes of the signature types you're not interested in.

The new code is generated instantly. Unfortunately, this is where SHAsher's functionality ends since i doesn't have options for verifying two hashes, decrypting code or importing text from external files for encoding, for example. It cannot process long messages either.

Taking into account its straightforward approach, SHAsher comes in handy to new users who wish to get familiarized with text hashing applications. On the other hand, it doesn't offer richer features for seasoned users looking for more control.