Due to the increased cybersecurity threats, message integrity has become a concern for technology researchers. One of the features that are used to protect message integrity is hashing. Hashing entails the process of assigning lengthy data a unique code that protects it from malicious users (Rasjid et al., 2017). However, hashing might experience a collision, where one hash is assigned to more than one value of data entered in a system. Hash collisions affect message integrity in several ways. In the event of hash collisions, an attacker can hack into a system by keying in a password that is close to the hashed data values. Therefore, message integrity is negatively affected by hash collisions because attackers can easily alter it. Similarly, when the hash collision occurs, attackers can easily access protected data and use it to accomplish illegal activities. Most fraud cases in the modern-day technological world result from a hash collision that grants attackers a chance to access confidential data and information.
The algorithm Message Digest 5 (MD5) has been identified to harbor numerous weaknesses that make it possible for attackers to create multiple input sources similar to it. With Message Digest 5, attackers can come up with input values that have identical fingerprints. The counterfeit input values created by attackers are not prone to hash collision. According to Rasjid et al. (2017), cyber-attacks mostly rely on hash collisions resulting from the Message Digest 5. The Message Digest 5, therefore, is unreliable to encrypt data that is held confidential. Collisions related to the Message Digest 5 pose significant threats to message integrity and do not qualify to fight against cybersecurity. Hash collisions resulting from Message Direct 5 occur after data is encrypted for protection (Rasjid et al., 2017). After a hash collision has occurred, attackers create their unique input values that can be used to completely distort data integrity and deter the data owners from accessing it.
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References
Rasjid, Z., Soewito, B., Witjaksono, G., & Abdurachman, E. (2017). A Review of Collisions in Cryptographic Hash Function Used in Digital Forensic Tools. 116: 381-392. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877050917321221
