Step $3$: Explaining the Advantages of SHA$-256$ over MD$-5$ and SHA$-1($Question $2$a$)$

Explanation:

MD$-5($Message Digest $5)$ and SHA$-1($Secure Hash Algorithm $1)$ are cryptographic hash functions that produce a fixed$-$size hash value from an input data. However, they are both considered weak and vulnerable to collision attacks, where two different inputs produce the same hash value. SHA$-1$ has been deprecated for cryptographic use since $2010$ due to its vulnerabilities.

SHA$-256($Secure Hash Algorithm $256)$ is a more secure cryptographic hash function that produces a $256-$bit hash value. It is part of the SHA$-2$ family of hash functions, which also includes SHA$-224,$ SHA$-384,$ and SHA$-512.$ SHA$-256$ is widely used for digital signatures, password hashing, and other cryptographic applications.

Hashing data with SHA$-256$ provides several advantages:

Security: SHA$-256$ is considered secure against collision attacks and cryptanalysis, making it suitable for secure data transmission and storage.

Verifiability: The hash value produced by SHA$-256$ can be used to verify the integrity of the data. If the data changes, the hash value will also change, indicating that the data has been tampered with.

Efficiency: SHA$-256$ is efficient in terms of computational resources, making it suitable for use in various applications, including digital signatures and password hashing.

To demonstrate the difference in security between MD$-5$ and SHA$-256,$ we can use a Python script to calculate the hash values of two different inputs using both algorithms:

import hashlib

# Input data

input$\_$data$1=$ b$"$hello$"$

input$\_$data$2=$ b$"$world$"$

# Calculate MD$5$ hash

md$5\_$hash$1=$ hashlib.md$5($input$\_$data$1).$hexdigest$()$

md$5\_$hash$2=$ hashlib.md$5($input$\_$data$2).$hexdigest$()$

# Calculate SHA$-256$ hash

sha$256\_$hash$1=$ hashlib.sha$256($input$\_$data$1).$hexdigest$()$

sha$256\_$hash$2=$ hashlib.sha$256($input$\_$data$2).$hexdigest$()$

print$("$MD$5$ Hash of 'hello':", md$5\_$hash$1)$

print$("$MD$5$ Hash of 'world':", md$5\_$hash$2)$

print$("$SHA$-256$ Hash of 'hello':", sha$256\_$hash$1)$

print$("$SHA$-256$ Hash of 'world':", sha$256\_$hash$2)$

In this example, the MD$5$ hash values for "hello" and "world" are the same $("5$d$41402$abc$4$b$2$a$76$b$9719$d$911017$c$592"),$ indicating a collision. However, the SHA$-256$ hash values are different $("2$cf$24$dba$5$fb$0$a$30$e$26$e$83$b$2$ac$5$b$9$e$29$e$1$b$161$e$5$c$1$fa$7425$e$73043362938$b$9824"$ and $"7$c$211433$f$02071597741$e$6$ff$5$a$8$ea$34789$abbf$43$b$0$d$665$c$6$

Question: I recived this answer before, but i think the example is wrong because when i tried this example i got $2$ different MD$5$ for "hello" and "world". Can you provide another example for this?