What is the primary objective of hashing in network security?

The primary objective of hashing in network security is to ensure data integrity. Hashing takes an input (or 'message') and produces a fixed-size string of characters, which is typically a digest that appears random. This digest is unique to the input data, meaning that even a small change in the input results in a significantly different hash value.

When data is transmitted over a network, hashing can be used to confirm that the data has not been altered in transit. By generating a hash of the original data and then comparing it to the hash of the received data, it can be verified whether the data remains unchanged. If the hash values match, it asserts the integrity of the data, allowing the recipient to trust that the data received is exactly what was sent.

While other options relate to network security, they focus on different aspects. For example, controlling network access pertains more to authentication and authorization measures, encryption specifically secures data during transit but does not maintain integrity on its own, and authenticating users verifies identity rather than the integrity of the data itself.