Many times I hear about something called MD5 hashes, etc..... What is it?

[WinAndLinuxTutorials]

The title explains everything
"Many times I hear about something called MD5 hashes, etc..... What is it?"

 

[Hungry Man]

MD5 is a type of algorithm for encrypting files. Often it's used for verification.

Let's say I download malwarebytes.exe from softpedia.com

How do I know it's legit?

Well I go to malwarebytes.com and see if there's a published MD5 or I check a known good file's MD5.

If the hashes are different I know that the file I've got is different. If the file is the same they are almost definitely the hash.

It's also helpful for checking if a file is corrupted. If part of the data wasn't written correctly the MD5 will be different from a known-good source.

 

[WinAndLinuxTutorials]

Thanks for explaining it

 

[jamescv7]

MD5 hashes, SHA hashes and others were really useful since you can search the specific hash for additional information.

Mostly tools were used to translate the file from MD5 Hash which is pretty less hassle.

 

[HeffeD]

I think this is the easiest application to compare file hash.

HashTab

The application incorporates with the OS shell, so all you need to do to compare a file hash is to right click on a file and select properties, Then click on the tab for file hash and you can compare all the popular formats.

Even better, it will automatically import the contents of the clipboard. Just copy the MD5, SHA1, or whichever you prefer while the file is downloading. Then when the file is downloaded, go to Properties, File Hashes, and it will automatically compare the files hash with the hash stored in the clipboard.

Can't get any easier than that.

 

[WinAndLinuxTutorials]

I've also heard about something called SHA-1, what is it?

 

[jamescv7]

They were also same as MD5 -Hash however its like SHA-1 is an old type form of cryptography.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SHA-1

 

[AyeAyeCaptain]

Even I learned a bit more about it, had vague idea but never really researched... thanks for the input/replies/links guys. :

 

[Hungry Man]

They're just different types of algorithms for creating encrypted files.