3 ms·
Why would you use MD5 as a checksum if different documents with identical hashes can be produced?
by DannoHung 15y ago
Why would you use MD5 as a checksum if different documents with identical hashes can be produced?
- rmc 15y agoThat's why you shouldn't use MD5 as a checksum.
- tptacek 15y agoPresumably because it is faster than many of the secure hashes (particularly SHA256), and still functions adequately as a checksum (bit errors are not going to produce meaningful collisions).
- duaneb 15y agoBecause it's very unlikely to produce an identical checksum without trying to. So unless you're worried about malicious users, MD5 is fine.
- maratd 15y agoBecause it is fast, ubiquitous, and you can't produce a collision by accident. That means it's perfectly fine to use where no malicious behavior is possible. In fact, it should be used in those instances due to the speed and availability on all platforms. Where security is a concern, use SHA-256 or SHA-512.