| MD5 message digest utility |
The MD5 utility takes as input a message of arbitrary length (e.g. the contents of a file) and produces as output a 128-bit 'fingerprint' or 'message digest' of the input. It is conjectured that it is computationally infeasible to produce two messages having the same message digest, or to produce any message having a given prespecified target message digest.
The MD5 algorithm is intended for digital signature applications, where a large file must be `compressed' in a secure manner before being encrypted with a private (secret) key under a public-key cryptosystem such as RSA. MD5 digests are often provided with large files for downloading, the idea being that the downloader is told the MD5 digest for the file, and can thus check that it has been downloaded correctly by running MD5 over the file and comparing the digest with the one provided.
This program was placed in the public domain for free general use by RSA Data Security. It was ported to OS/2 by Bob Eager, Tavi Systems. The source code will be provided on request.
The MD5.ZIP file includes the following:
Download MD5.ZIP version 1.1
Anyone who is interested in the MD5 algorithm, and using it on OS/2, may like to look at Daniel Hellerstein's REXX procedures to implement MD5. They can be found at http://www.srehttp.org/apps/rexx_md5/.