Comment Re:They could disable the majority of botnets (Score 1) 94
Or Microsoft don't release them in a timely fashion.
Or Adobe does not. Flash and PDF exploits still tops the list.
Comment Re:MD4 and MD5 are not encryption schemes (Score 2, Informative) 199
Well, they are actually not that different. Any block cipher (like AES) can easily be used as a hashing algorithm (using the last block as the "digest") with fixed key/IV. It can be used as a MAC the same way by varying the key.
Hashing algorithms can as well be used as stream ciphers. Since they have the property that they are "cryptographically secure" - ie. their output could as well have been random for all you care - they can be used to create a stream of pseudo-random bytes that you can XOR your message with.
The real difference between hashing algorithms and "real" two-way encryption is efficiency! Hashing algorithms are also commonly called one-way encryption schemes.
Hashing algorithms can as well be used as stream ciphers. Since they have the property that they are "cryptographically secure" - ie. their output could as well have been random for all you care - they can be used to create a stream of pseudo-random bytes that you can XOR your message with.
The real difference between hashing algorithms and "real" two-way encryption is efficiency! Hashing algorithms are also commonly called one-way encryption schemes.
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