If the count is all you need, you don't need of %hash at all:
my %count;

while (<FILE>){
 
 next unless /something/; 
 if (/<LONG REGEX>/){
   
    $count{$3}++ if $3;
 }
}

[download]

If McDarren is correct, and you want to keep track of all items, you should probably maintain an array inside $hash{$3} (and a variable rename would be good in this case), and in this case you would have the count "for free", just looking at how many elements each item has: 

my %hashes_for;  # More sensible name

while (<FILE>){
 
 next unless /something/; 
 if (/<LONG REGEX>/){
   
   push @{$hashes_for{$3}}, {
        sig => $1,
        src => $3,
        proto => $2,
        dst => $4,
        port => $5,
   };
 }
}

# You can now use scalar(@{$hashes_for{whatever}}) instead of $count{w
+hatever}

[download]

Note: untested code!

Flavio
perl -ple'$_=reverse' <<<ti.xittelop@oivalf

Don't fool yourself.

In reply to Re: One Hash Instead of Two by polettix
in thread One Hash Instead of Two by Dru

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