MD5 and SHA1 checksum uses for downloading
- by Zac
I notice that when downloading a lot of open source tools (Eclipse, etc.) there are links for MD5 and SHA1 checksums, and didn't know what these were or what their purpose was.
I know these are hashing algorithms, and I do understand hashing, so my only guess is that these are used for hashing some component of the download targets, and to compare them with "official" hash strings stored server-side. Perhaps that way it can be determined whether or not the targets have been modified from their correct version (for security and other purposes).
Am I close or completely wrong, and if wrong, what are they?!?!
Thanks!