GCFA · Question #101
You are the Security Consultant and have been contacted by a client regarding their encryption and hashing algorithms. Their in-house network administrator tells you that their current hashing…
The correct answer is B. MD5. MD5 is an older cryptographic hash function with well-documented collision vulnerabilities, making it no longer suitable for security-sensitive applications.
Question
You are the Security Consultant and have been contacted by a client regarding their encryption and hashing algorithms. Their in-house network administrator tells you that their current hashing algorithm is an older one with known weaknesses and is not collision resistant. Which algorithm are they most likely using for hashing?
Options
- ASHA
- BMD5
- CPKI
- DKerberos
How the community answered
(25 responses)- A4% (1)
- B80% (20)
- C12% (3)
- D4% (1)
Why each option
MD5 is an older cryptographic hash function with well-documented collision vulnerabilities, making it no longer suitable for security-sensitive applications.
SHA refers to a family of algorithms and while SHA-1 has known weaknesses, MD5 is the algorithm most specifically and universally associated with collision resistance failures in exam and industry contexts.
MD5 (Message Digest 5) is a widely recognized hashing algorithm known to be collision-vulnerable, meaning two different inputs can produce the same hash output. Researchers have demonstrated practical collision attacks against MD5, and it has been deprecated by NIST for most cryptographic uses. Its weaknesses make it the most fitting answer for an algorithm that is 'older' and 'not collision resistant.'
PKI (Public Key Infrastructure) is a framework for managing digital certificates and asymmetric encryption, not a hashing algorithm.
Kerberos is a network authentication protocol that uses tickets to verify identity, not a hashing algorithm.
Concept tested: MD5 hash collision vulnerability identification
Source: https://www.nist.gov/publications/nist-special-publication-800-131a-revision-2
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