In cryptography, the avalanche effect is the desirable property of cryptographic algorithms, typically block ciphers and cryptographic hash functions, wherein if an input is changed slightly, the output changes significantly.

What happens in avalanche effect?

avalanche effect, in physics, a sudden increase in the flow of an electrical current through a nonconducting or semiconducting solid when a sufficiently strong electrical force is applied.

What is avalanche effect in encryption algorithm?

The Avalanche Effect refers to the fact that for a good cipher, changes in the plaintext affect the ciphertext. The algorithm produces a completely different output for a minimally changed input. For example, the SHA-2 checksum algorithm or the AES encryption algorithm show a strong avalanche effect.