diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 29492cf..eeeaafd 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -220,10 +220,10 @@ dependencies = [
  "clap",
  "cpufeatures 0.2.1",
  "hkdf",
- "hmac",
  "num_enum",
  "rand",
  "rpassword",
+ "subtle",
  "tempfile",
  "zeroize",
 ]
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index ba324cc..583824c 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ num_enum = "0.5"
 cpufeatures = "0.2"
 aes = { version = "0.7", features = ["ctr"] }
 chacha20 = "0.8"
-hmac = "0.11"
+subtle = "2.4"
 blake2 = "0.9"
 hkdf = "0.11"
 argon2 = "0.3"
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 7dca224..420ffcc 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ doby started as a fork of [aef](https://github.com/wyhaya/aef) by [wyhaya](https
 * Fast: written in [rust](https://www.rust-lang.org), encrypts with [AES-256-CTR](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Block_cipher_mode_of_operation#Counter_(CTR)) or [XChaCha20](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salsa20#XChaCha)
 * [HMAC](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMAC) ciphertext authentication
 * Password brute-force resistance with [Argon2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argon2)
-* Increase the plaintext size of only 142 bytes
+* Increase the plaintext size of only 113 bytes
 * Encryption from STDIN/STDOUT or from files
 * Adjustable performance & secuity parameters
 
@@ -152,9 +152,9 @@ NOTE: To reduce the size of the header, the `nonce` is derived from the `master_
 Next, doby initializes a [BLAKE2b](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BLAKE_(hash_function)#BLAKE2) HMAC with `authentication_key` and add all public encryption parameters to it.
 
 ```rust
-let hmac = Hmac::new(
+let hmac = Blake2b::new_keyed(
     authentication_key,
-    blake2b, //hash function
+    32, //digest size
 );
 hmac.update(random_salt);
 //integers are encoded in big-endian
@@ -217,7 +217,7 @@ So here is what an encrypted file layout looks like:
   </tr>
   <tr>
     <th align="left">HMAC</th>
-    <td>64 bytes</td>
+    <td>32 bytes</td>
   </tr>
 </table>
 
@@ -254,7 +254,7 @@ while n != 0 {
 Once the whole ciphertext is decrypted, doby computes and verifies the HMAC.
 
 ```rust
-hmac.digest() == last_64_bytes_read // the default blake2b output size is 64 bytes
+hmac.digest() == last_32_bytes_read
 ```
 
 If the verification success, the file is successfully decrypted and authenticated.
diff --git a/src/crypto.rs b/src/crypto.rs
index 9229f3c..24b191d 100644
--- a/src/crypto.rs
+++ b/src/crypto.rs
@@ -1,8 +1,9 @@
 use std::{convert::TryFrom, fmt::{self, Display, Formatter}, io::{self, Read, Write}};
+use blake2::{Blake2b, VarBlake2b, digest::{Update, VariableOutput}};
 use num_enum::TryFromPrimitive;
 use chacha20::XChaCha20;
 use aes::{Aes256Ctr, cipher::{NewCipher, StreamCipher}};
-use hmac::{Hmac, Mac, NewMac};
+use subtle::ConstantTimeEq;
 use rand::{Rng, rngs::OsRng};
 use argon2::{Argon2, Version, Algorithm};
 use hkdf::Hkdf;
@@ -11,7 +12,7 @@ use zeroize::Zeroize;
 pub const SALT_LEN: usize = 64;
 const AES_NONCE_LEN: usize = 16;
 const XCHACHA20_NONCE_LEN: usize = 24;
-pub const HASH_LEN: usize = 64;
+pub const HMAC_LEN: usize = 32;
 const KEY_LEN: usize = 32;
 
 #[derive(Clone, Copy, Debug, PartialEq, Eq, TryFromPrimitive)]
@@ -99,7 +100,7 @@ impl EncryptionParams {
 
 pub struct DobyCipher {
     cipher: Box<dyn StreamCipher>,
-    hmac: Hmac<blake2::Blake2b>,
+    hasher: VarBlake2b,
     buffer: Vec<u8>,
 }
 
@@ -108,7 +109,7 @@ impl DobyCipher {
         let argon2 = Argon2::new(Algorithm::Argon2id, Version::V0x13, params.argon2.clone());
         let mut master_key = [0; KEY_LEN];
         argon2.hash_password_into(password, &params.salt, &mut master_key).unwrap();
-        let hkdf = Hkdf::<blake2::Blake2b>::new(Some(&params.salt), &master_key);
+        let hkdf = Hkdf::<Blake2b>::new(Some(&params.salt), &master_key);
         master_key.zeroize();
         let mut nonce = vec![0; params.cipher.get_nonce_size()];
         hkdf.expand(b"doby_nonce", &mut nonce).unwrap();
@@ -119,9 +120,9 @@ impl DobyCipher {
 
         let mut encoded_params = Vec::with_capacity(EncryptionParams::LEN);
         params.write(&mut encoded_params).unwrap();
-        let mut hmac = Hmac::new_from_slice(&authentication_key).unwrap();
+        let mut hasher = VarBlake2b::new_keyed(&authentication_key, HMAC_LEN);
         authentication_key.zeroize();
-        hmac.update(&encoded_params);
+        hasher.update(&encoded_params);
 
         let cipher: Box<dyn StreamCipher> = match params.cipher {
             CipherAlgorithm::AesCtr => Box::new(Aes256Ctr::new_from_slices(&encryption_key, &nonce).unwrap()),
@@ -131,20 +132,19 @@ impl DobyCipher {
 
         Self {
             cipher,
-            hmac,
+            hasher,
             buffer: Vec::new(),
         }
     }
 
     pub fn encrypt_chunk<W: Write>(&mut self, buff: &mut [u8], writer: &mut W) -> io::Result<()> {
         self.cipher.apply_keystream(buff);
-        self.hmac.update(buff);
+        self.hasher.update(&buff);
         writer.write_all(buff)
     }
 
-    pub fn write_hmac<W: Write>(self, writer: &mut W) -> io::Result<usize> {
-        let tag = self.hmac.finalize().into_bytes();
-        writer.write(&tag)
+    pub fn write_hmac<W: Write>(self, writer: &mut W) -> io::Result<()> {
+        writer.write_all(&self.hasher.finalize_boxed())
     }
 
     //buff size must be > to HASH_LEN
@@ -153,27 +153,27 @@ impl DobyCipher {
         buff[..buffer_len].clone_from_slice(&self.buffer);
         let read = reader.read(&mut buff[buffer_len..])?;
 
-        let n = if buffer_len + read >= HASH_LEN {
+        let n = if buffer_len + read >= HMAC_LEN {
             self.buffer.clear();
-            buffer_len + read - HASH_LEN
+            buffer_len + read - HMAC_LEN
         } else {
             0
         };
         self.buffer.extend_from_slice(&buff[n..buffer_len+read]);
         
-        self.hmac.update(&buff[..n]);
+        self.hasher.update(&buff[..n]);
         self.cipher.apply_keystream(&mut buff[..n]);
         Ok(n)
     }
 
     pub fn verify_hmac(self) -> bool {
-        self.hmac.verify(&self.buffer).is_ok()
+        self.hasher.finalize_boxed().ct_eq(&self.buffer).into()
     }
 }
 
 #[cfg(test)]
 mod tests {
-    use super::{CipherAlgorithm, EncryptionParams, DobyCipher, HASH_LEN};
+    use super::{CipherAlgorithm, EncryptionParams, DobyCipher, HMAC_LEN};
     #[test]
     fn encryption_params() {
         let params = EncryptionParams::new(
@@ -204,17 +204,17 @@ mod tests {
         let password = "I like spaghetti";
         let plaintext = b"but I love so much to listen to HARDCORE music on big subwoofer";
         let mut buff: [u8; 63] = *plaintext;
-        let mut vec = Vec::with_capacity(buff.len()+HASH_LEN);
+        let mut vec = Vec::with_capacity(buff.len()+HMAC_LEN);
 
         let mut enc_cipher = DobyCipher::new(password.as_bytes(), &params);
         enc_cipher.encrypt_chunk(&mut buff, &mut vec).unwrap();
         assert_ne!(buff, *plaintext);
         assert_eq!(buff, vec.as_slice());
-        assert_eq!(enc_cipher.write_hmac(&mut vec).unwrap(), HASH_LEN);
-        assert_eq!(vec.len(), buff.len()+HASH_LEN);
+        assert!(enc_cipher.write_hmac(&mut vec).is_ok());
+        assert_eq!(vec.len(), buff.len()+HMAC_LEN);
 
         let mut dec_cipher = DobyCipher::new(password.as_bytes(), &params);
-        let mut decrypted = vec![0; buff.len()+HASH_LEN];
+        let mut decrypted = vec![0; buff.len()+HMAC_LEN];
         let mut n  = dec_cipher.decrypt_chunk(&mut vec.as_slice(), &mut decrypted[..]).unwrap();
         assert_eq!(n, buff.len());
         n = dec_cipher.decrypt_chunk(&mut &vec[n..], &mut decrypted[n..]).unwrap();
diff --git a/tests/authentication.rs b/tests/authentication.rs
index e578c3a..b51ded7 100644
--- a/tests/authentication.rs
+++ b/tests/authentication.rs
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ fn different_elements<T: Eq>(v1: &Vec<T>, v2: &Vec<T>) -> usize {
 fn authentication() {
     const BLOCK_SIZE: usize = 65536;
     const PLAINTEXT: &[u8; 13] = b"the plaintext";
-    const CIPHERTEXT_SIZE: usize = PLAINTEXT.len()+145;
+    const CIPHERTEXT_SIZE: usize = PLAINTEXT.len()+113;
     const PASSWORD: &str = "the password";
     let params = EncryptionParams::new(
         argon2::Params::new(8, 1, 1, None).unwrap(),
diff --git a/tests/cli.rs b/tests/cli.rs
index e57f565..ce2b37b 100644
--- a/tests/cli.rs
+++ b/tests/cli.rs
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 use std::{convert::TryInto, fs::{self, File, create_dir}, io::{self, Read, Write}, path::PathBuf};
 use assert_cmd::{Command, cargo::{CargoError, cargo_bin}};
 use tempfile::TempDir;
-use doby::crypto::{CipherAlgorithm, SALT_LEN, HASH_LEN};
+use doby::crypto::{CipherAlgorithm, SALT_LEN, HMAC_LEN};
 
 const PLAINTEXT: &[u8] = b"the plaintext";
 const PASSWORD: &str = "the password";
@@ -85,7 +85,7 @@ fn force_encrypt() -> io::Result<()> {
     let buff_ciphertext_2 = fs::read(&tmp_ciphertext_2)?;
     assert_ne!(buff_ciphertext_1, buff_ciphertext_2);
     assert_ne!(buff_ciphertext_2, PLAINTEXT);
-    assert!(buff_ciphertext_2.len() >= buff_ciphertext_1.len()+142);
+    assert!(buff_ciphertext_2.len() >= buff_ciphertext_1.len()+113);
 
     let tmp_decrypted_1 = tmp_path.join("decrypted_1");
     doby_cmd().unwrap().arg(tmp_ciphertext_2).arg(&tmp_decrypted_1).assert().success().stdout("").stderr("");
@@ -108,7 +108,7 @@ fn test_cipher(cipher_str: &str, cipher_algorithm: CipherAlgorithm) -> io::Resul
 
     let ciphertext = fs::read(&tmp_ciphertext)?;
     assert_eq!(ciphertext[4+SALT_LEN+4*3], cipher_algorithm as u8);
-    assert_eq!(ciphertext.len(), PLAINTEXT.len()+17+SALT_LEN+HASH_LEN);
+    assert_eq!(ciphertext.len(), PLAINTEXT.len()+17+SALT_LEN+HMAC_LEN);
 
     doby_cmd().unwrap().arg(tmp_ciphertext).assert().success().stdout(PLAINTEXT).stderr("");