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Glossary
Hermes (Ermis in Greek; hence the application name), in ancient Greece was a prominent Olympian deity of the Dodecatheon in Greek religion and mythology; often considered the messenger of the gods. He was also broadly considered the protector of human heralds (i.e messengers), travelers, merchants, orators, and thieves. Additionally, thanks to the talaria - also known as winged sandals - he wore (also representing Ermi's trademark icon), he was able to move swiftly, promptly and freely between the worlds of the mortal and the divine.
Hermes's embodies every aspect and facet of this application - communication; with speed, efficacy and protection -, which is the reason I adopted him as both the emblem and title.
Mercury - not to be confused with the chemical element or the planet - was the Roman equivalent of the Greek god Hermes. Both deities were depicted with winged sandals and a winged helmet or hat, and both carried the caduceus (a staff with snakes).
The term "display name" and "username" are used interchangeably throughout the project. Do not be confused when you encounter in one place "username" and "display name" in another.
If you’re new to cryptography, terms like hash and salt may sound unfamiliar. In layman term's, hashing is the process of transforming data (e.g a password) into an irreversible value. By hashing sensitive information, invaders have no way of knowing what the initial password was (before being hashed).
For example, when passwords are stored as hashes, they are no longer in plain text, so even if someone had access to the database, he could not directly see the original password. However, there is a method called rainbow tables, which are large, precomputed lists of hashes and their original inputs. These tables allow attackers to reverse hashes by matching them with their corresponding values.
This is where salt comes in...
In cryptography, a salt is random data added as an extra input to a hashing function. Salting strengthens password security by producing unique hashes, even for identical passwords. Essentially, salt adds an extra layer of security, making it impossible for attackers to use shortcuts like rainbow tables to reverse hashed data.
"Arguing that you don’t care about the right to privacy because you have nothing to hide is no different than saying you don’t care about free speech because you have nothing to say"
— Dr. Edward Snowden