SHA-3 (Secure Hash Algorithm 3) is a cryptographic hash function. The SHA-3 standard was released by NIST on August 5, 2015 SHA-3 is a member of the Secure Hash Algorithm family. SHA-3 is not meant to replace SHA-2, as no significant attack on SHA-2 has been demonstrated. NIST perceived a need for an alternative, dissimilar cryptographic hash, which became SHA-3.