An in-depth look at cryptographic hashing algorithms

Audience: Undergraduate. -- Dissertation: Thesis (B. A.). -- Algoma University, 2016. -- Submitted in partial fulfillment of course requirements for COSC 4235. -- Includes figures. -- Contents: Thesis.

ABSTRACT -- Cryptographic hash functions, namely Message Digest 5 and Secure Hash Algorithm 1 were published over two decades ago and are still in frequent practice as a password security measure. Since publication, associated weaknesses and vulnerabilities have been identified with each function. From an information security perspective, the algorithms on their own are considered broken and insecure respectively. The presented literature seeks to illustrate the degree of vulnerability associated with the credited algorithms through extensive research, relevant statistical data, and firsthand experimentation. Well known attack methods such as a dictionary and rainbow table attacks are undertaken against a set of MD5 and SHA-1 hash values in a real environment to extract significant data regarding time and space complexity. The data are used in comparison to approximated results of secure cryptographic hashing standards in practice today. Consequently, information to counteract such attack methods is discussed in detail to proactively prevent the likelihood of a successful data breach in a real system.