The Secure Hash Algorithm 2 (SHA2) is a cryptographic hash functions designed by the United States National Security Agency (NSA).
SHA2 supersedes the less secure SHA1. SHA2 includes significant changes from its predecessor and is currently the most widely used hash algorithm. It is in the process of being superseded by SHA3. SHA2 comes in a range of digest sizes 224, 256, 384, and 512 bits.
When specifying these digests within log or trace files, they are typically referred to as:
SHA-224, SHA-256, SHA-384, SHA-512, SHA-512/224, and SHA-512/256.