Whirlpool (hash function)

In computer science and cryptography, Whirlpool (sometimes styled WHIRLPOOL) is a cryptographic hash function. It was designed by Vincent Rijmen (co-creator of the Advanced Encryption Standard) and Paulo S. L. M. Barreto, who first described it in 2000. It is named after the Whirlpool galaxy in Canes Venatici (M51, or NGC 5194), the first one recognized to have a spiral structure by William Parsons, third Earl of Rosse, in April 1845.

The hash has been recommended by the NESSIE project. It has also been adopted by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) as part of the joint ISO/IEC 10118-3 international standard.