See also: Algorithms | Hash
MD5 verifies data integrity. MD5 has a hash length of 128-bits. Description and source code for the algorithm can be found in RFC 1321 [[1] (http://isc.faqs.org/rfcs/rfc1321.html)].
Note:
Since 1996, analytical breakthroughs have made MD5 suspect for certain uses, because it is easier to find certain kinds of collisions (http://www.tcs.hut.fi/~mjos/md5/) than originally thought. Although MD5 is more than adequate for most applications, a higher-security alternative is SHA-1.
Examples:
- http://citeseer.nj.nec.com/robshaw96recent.html
- ftp://ftp.rsasecurity.com/pub/pdfs/bulletn4.pdf
- http://www.md5crk.com/?sec=whatismd5crk
Related
- MD5sum
- SHA-1
- MD5CRK (http://www.md5crk.com) – Distributed computing project aiming to prove the above stated vulnerabilities in the MD5 algorithm.
- FastSum (http://www.fastsum.com) – Freeware utility for the files integrity control
TakeDown.NET -> “MD5”