Which method is commonly used to provide integrity for data?

Hashing is commonly used to provide integrity for data because it creates a fixed-size output (hash value) from variable size input data through a mathematical algorithm. This hash value serves as a unique digital fingerprint that represents the original data. If any changes are made to the original data, even a single bit, the hash value will change significantly. This characteristic allows users to verify the integrity of data by comparing the hash value of the original data with the hash value of the data in question. If they match, the data is considered intact; if they differ, it indicates that the data has been altered in some way.

In contrast, encryption protects data confidentiality by transforming it so that it is unreadable without the correct decryption key. While encryption is pivotal for protecting sensitive information, it does not directly check or ensure data integrity. Access control is concerned with restricting who can view or use resources in a computing environment and is more focused on permissions rather than data integrity itself. Data compression is the process of encoding information to reduce its size for storage efficiency or transmission speed, but it does not inherently maintain or verify the integrity of the data.