diff --git a/SafeExamBrowser.Browser/Handlers/ResourceHandler.cs b/SafeExamBrowser.Browser/Handlers/ResourceHandler.cs
index 8d457bac..d2a5ae6b 100644
--- a/SafeExamBrowser.Browser/Handlers/ResourceHandler.cs
+++ b/SafeExamBrowser.Browser/Handlers/ResourceHandler.cs
@@ -130,12 +130,15 @@ namespace SafeExamBrowser.Browser.Handlers
 
 		private string ComputeBrowserExamKey()
 		{
-			var hash = algorithm.ComputeHash(Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(settings.ExamKeySalt + appConfig.CodeSignatureHash + appConfig.ProgramBuildVersion + settings.ConfigurationKey));
-			var key = BitConverter.ToString(hash).ToLower().Replace("-", string.Empty);
+			using (var algorithm = new HMACSHA256(settings.ExamKeySalt))
+			{
+				var hash = algorithm.ComputeHash(Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(appConfig.CodeSignatureHash + appConfig.ProgramBuildVersion + settings.ConfigurationKey));
+				var key = BitConverter.ToString(hash).ToLower().Replace("-", string.Empty);
 
-			browserExamKey = key;
+				browserExamKey = key;
 
-			return browserExamKey;
+				return browserExamKey;
+			}
 		}
 
 		private bool IsMailtoUrl(string url)
diff --git a/SafeExamBrowser.Configuration/ConfigurationData/DataMapping/BrowserDataMapper.cs b/SafeExamBrowser.Configuration/ConfigurationData/DataMapping/BrowserDataMapper.cs
index 0681b1e6..7208a1d0 100644
--- a/SafeExamBrowser.Configuration/ConfigurationData/DataMapping/BrowserDataMapper.cs
+++ b/SafeExamBrowser.Configuration/ConfigurationData/DataMapping/BrowserDataMapper.cs
@@ -6,7 +6,6 @@
  * file, You can obtain one at http://mozilla.org/MPL/2.0/.
  */
 
-using System;
 using System.Collections.Generic;
 using SafeExamBrowser.Settings;
 using SafeExamBrowser.Settings.Browser;
@@ -281,7 +280,7 @@ namespace SafeExamBrowser.Configuration.ConfigurationData.DataMapping
 		{
 			if (value is byte[] salt)
 			{
-				settings.Browser.ExamKeySalt = BitConverter.ToString(salt).ToLower().Replace("-", string.Empty);
+				settings.Browser.ExamKeySalt = salt;
 			}
 		}
 
diff --git a/SafeExamBrowser.Settings/Browser/BrowserSettings.cs b/SafeExamBrowser.Settings/Browser/BrowserSettings.cs
index c79b2e09..9b247e87 100644
--- a/SafeExamBrowser.Settings/Browser/BrowserSettings.cs
+++ b/SafeExamBrowser.Settings/Browser/BrowserSettings.cs
@@ -94,7 +94,7 @@ namespace SafeExamBrowser.Settings.Browser
 		/// <summary>
 		/// The salt value for the calculation of the exam key which is used for integrity checks with server applications (see also <see cref="SendExamKey"/>).
 		/// </summary>
-		public string ExamKeySalt { get; set; }
+		public byte[] ExamKeySalt { get; set; }
 
 		/// <summary>
 		/// The settings to be used for the browser request filter.
diff --git a/SebWindowsConfig/Utilities/SEBProtectionController.cs b/SebWindowsConfig/Utilities/SEBProtectionController.cs
index 6ac06ed3..4f60f7ea 100644
--- a/SebWindowsConfig/Utilities/SEBProtectionController.cs
+++ b/SebWindowsConfig/Utilities/SEBProtectionController.cs
@@ -574,14 +574,14 @@ namespace SebWindowsConfig.Utilities
 		{
 			var executable = Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly();
 			var certificate = executable.Modules.First().GetSignerCertificate();
-			var salt = BitConverter.ToString((byte[])SEBSettings.settingsCurrent[SEBSettings.KeyExamKeySalt]).ToLower().Replace("-", string.Empty);
+			var salt = (byte[]) SEBSettings.settingsCurrent[SEBSettings.KeyExamKeySalt];
 			var signature = certificate?.GetCertHashString();
 			var version = FileVersionInfo.GetVersionInfo(executable.Location).FileVersion;
 			var configurationKey = ComputeConfigurationKey();
 
-			using (var algorithm = new SHA256Managed())
+			using (var algorithm = new HMACSHA256(salt))
 			{
-				var hash = algorithm.ComputeHash(Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(salt + signature + version + configurationKey));
+				var hash = algorithm.ComputeHash(Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(signature + version + configurationKey));
 				var key = BitConverter.ToString(hash).ToLower().Replace("-", string.Empty);
 
 				return key;