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Path: euryale.cc.adfa.oz.au!newshost.carno.net.au!harbinger.cc.monash.edu.au!munnari.OZ.AU!news.ecn.uoknor.edu!feed1.news.erols.com!news.maxwell.syr.edu!nac!news.iac.net!odin.oar.net!malgudi.oar.net!news.muohio.edu!not-for-mail Newsgroups: comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc,comp.security.unix Subject: Re: how MD5 works Message-ID: <1997Apr22.095500.5437@nntp.muohio.edu> From: Steven J. Madsen <madsensj@titan.sas.muohio.edu> Date: 22 Apr 97 09:55:00 -0500 References: <01bc4ecf$0b2c9840$2fa56bc7@jasmin> Nntp-Posting-Host: titan.sas.muohio.edu X-Newsreader: TIN [UNIX 1.3 unoff BETA 970417; i686 Linux 2.0.29] Lines: 16 Xref: euryale.cc.adfa.oz.au comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc:39525 comp.security.unix:33867 Jian L. Zhen <jlz@isli.com> wrote: > am I correct? is there anything in algorithm that might make the result > variable each time? No, running MD5 on a given input will always produce the same output, every time. That's sort of the point. My understanding is that it can be used as a replacement to standard UNIX crypt because it takes significantly longer (relatively) to generate an MD5 hash. This makes dictionary attacks harder since you can't test as many possible passwords in the same period of time. -- Steve Madsen <madsensj@muohio.edu> PGP key available Network Support Specialist School of Applied Science, Miami University