SPUG:Re: Appropriateness of MD5

[Brian Hatch]

> Those odds are good enough for me.
> 
> BUt I've always wondered if anybody has ever found two strings (let
> alone two text strings) (let alone two meaningful text strings) that
> digested to the same MD5 value. What we do if we did find a match.
> 
> I think I'd just patch the MD5 library to look for the special case ;)

You could always perform an MD5 hash *and* some other hash too
(preferably something very very quick) because there's an absolutely
infitessimal chance that two strings will have the same hash for
two separate hash algorithms.  So small as to be the same possibility
of breaking a stick at exactly the halfway point.  That small a
possibility.  I mean we're talking *SMALL*[1].  




[1] Ironic use of caps there, eh?


--
Brian Hatch                  Why are a 'wise man'
   Systems and                and a 'wise guy'
   Security Engineer          opposites?
http://www.ifokr.org/bri/

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