Method for efficient hashing of digital content

摘要

A method of authenticating digital content of a digital object. Content is divided into portions or chunks. A chunk hash of each chunk is calculated to provide chunk hashes that are stored as entries in a hash table. The chunk hash entries of the hash table are in turn hashed to create an overall hash of the hash table. Verification of the content first includes determining whether a recalculated overall hash of the hash table matches the previously calculated overall hash of the hash table. If the recalculated overall hash does match, this indicates that the hash table is authenticated and that the authenticity of the individual chunks can be verified. Verification of the authenticity of an individual chunk, which may be performed concurrently with the processing of the individual chunk, allows the content of the digital object to be incrementally rendered, chunk by chunk, resulting in a much faster and efficient rendering of the verified digital content.