Which aspect of the SHA-256 algorithm makes it suitable for integrity verification?

The suitability of the SHA-256 algorithm for integrity verification primarily stems from its characteristic where small changes to the input will lead to dramatically different outputs. This property, known as the avalanche effect, ensures that even a minute alteration in the input - such as changing just one character in a large file - results in a completely different hash value. This makes SHA-256 extremely effective for detecting alterations or corruption in data, as it allows users to compare the hash of the original data with the hash of the data in question. If the hashes match, the data has likely remained intact; if they are different, it indicates that the data has been altered in some way.

The other choices do not support the integrity verification function of SHA-256 as effectively. For example, generating a variable-length output does not apply to SHA-256, as it produces a fixed-length output of 256 bits. The option concerning encryption is misleading; while SHA-256 is a cryptographic hash function, it does not encrypt data in the way that allows for decryption. Additionally, the ability to “easily decrypt” in relation to hash functions is a misconception; hash values are not designed to be decrypted but rather to uniquely represent the input data. Thus, the property that