MD5

As a form of cryptography, MD5 is used in many security programs and to determine the integrity of a file. It is normally referenced as a 32-character hex number. MD5 was created to replace the earlier MD4 operation. In 1996, a few bugs were found in its design. While it did not pose a serious threat, many cryptographers chose to use what were believed to be more reliable algorithms, like SHA-1. More threatening flaws were found in 2004. This sparked the constant questioning of MD5 use for security purposes. Hackers eventually became aware of the vulnerabilities in MD5 and began to use it a source of exploitation. Projects such as the MD5 rainbow table are able to reverse the operation into sequences that clash with the original input. This process is usually done to crack a password. If the passwords are combined with a salt before the MD5 is generated, rainbow tables become much less of a threat.