What is MD 5 Algorithm in Network Security?
/ May 6, 2018

Overview of MD5 Algorithm Hash algorithms are important components in many cryptographic applications and security protocol suites. MD5 which stands for Message Digest algorithm 5 is a widely used cryptographic hash function. The idea behind this algorithm is to take up a random data (text or binary) as an input and generate a fixed size “hash value” as the output. The input data can be of any size or length, but the output “hash value” size is always fixed. MD5 was designed by well-known cryptographer Ronald Rivest in 1991. In 2004, some serious flaws were found in MD5. The complete implications of these flaws has yet to be determined. The MD5 algorithm is a cryptographic algorithm that takes an input of arbitrary length and produces a message digest that is 128 bits long. The digest is sometimes also called the “hash” or “fingerprint” of the input. MD5 is used in many situations where a potentially long message needs to be processed and/or compared quickly. The most common application is the creation and verification of digital signatures. Properties of a Message-Digest Algorithm When people plan to design a message-digest algorithm, they try to make the algorithm satisfy the following properties: It…

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