MD5 & SHA1 Hashing

What is an MD5 hash?

An MD5 hash is created by taking a string of any length and encoding it into a 128-bit fingerprint. Encoding the same string using the MD5 algorithm will always result in the same 128-bit hash output. MD5 hashes are commonly used with smaller strings when storing passwords, credit card numbers or other sensitive data in databases such as the popular MySQL. This tool provides a quick and easy way to encode an MD5 hash from a simple string of up to 256 characters in length.

MD5 hashes are also used to ensure the data integrity of files. Because the MD5 hash algorithm always produces the same output for the same given input, users can compare a hash of the source file with a newly created hash of the destination file to check that it is intact and unmodified.

An MD5 hash is NOT encryption. It is simply a fingerprint of the given input. However, it is a one-way transaction, and as such, it is almost impossible to reverse engineer an MD5 hash to retrieve the original string.

Why MD5 and SHA1 are unsuitable for passwords?

Hashing algorithms such as MD5, SHA1 and SHA256 are designed to be very fast and efficient. With modern techniques and computer equipment, it has become trivial to "brute force" the output of these algorithms, in order to determine the original input.

Because of how quickly a modern computer can "reverse" these hashing algorithms, many security professionals strongly suggest against their use for password hashing.

MD5 & SHA1 Hashing

Encode passwords, credit cards numbers and other sensitive data