4 ms·
MD5 was intended to be a message digest hash, so its primary function was to provide non-collidable checksums. (Edit: which it does poorly in an adversarial env
by shkkmo 5y ago
MD5 was intended to be a message digest hash, so its primary function was to provide non-collidable checksums. (Edit: which it does poorly in an adversarial environment so is now retired for security uses.)
Unlike hashing algorithms designed to be hard to reverse, MD5 has a very fast algorithm, so rainbow tables are fast and easy to create.
A public list of emails only speeds up the process and is not required as you could just build a completely random rainbow table. Prioritizing common email patterns in the table also is just another speed boost.
- kingcharles 5y agoI wonder if there are two "sane" looking email addresses that collide on the same MD5 hash?
- CodesInChaos 5y agoIt's very likely they exist. But I don't think the existing attacks on MD5 will allow you to construct one. So you'd have to spend 2^64 on brute-force, which is expensive but feasible.