A hash processing system and method for reducing the number of clock cycles required to implement the SHA1 and MD5 hash algorithms by using a common hash memory having multiple storage areas each coupled to one of two or more hash channels. The system further provides implicit padding on-the-fly as data is read from the common hash memory. The system shares register and other circuit resources for MD5 and SHA1 hash circuits that are implemented in each hash channel, and uses pipelined, two-channel SHA1 and pipelined, single-channel MD5 hash architectures to reduce the effective time required to implement the SHA1 and MD5 algorithms.