This document discusses cryptographic hash functions. It provides an overview of hash functions and their properties like producing a fixed-length digest from an arbitrary-length message. It describes common hash functions like MD5, SHA-1 and SHA-2 and their structures. It also discusses attacks on hash functions and the need for a new secure hash standard to replace insecure functions like MD5 and the weakened SHA-1, leading to the NIST SHA-3 competition to select a new standard.