MD5 message-digest algorithm is a well used but obsolete hash function which produces a 128-bit hash value. The main vulnerability is it easy crack by using MD5 tables generated by hackers by producing a MD5 output for every letter combination. However these task a long time to generate and most are incomplete it rendered the use of MD5 as a cryptology function insecure. However it serves as very useful for non-cryptographic purposes, for example for determining the partition for a particular key in a partitioned database.
What is a MD5 Hash?
A cryptographic hash (like MD5) is a mathematical algorithm that maps data of arbitrary size to a bit string of a fixed size. It is a one-way function, meaning it is computationally infeasible to invert or reverse the calculation to find the original data.
What is a Salt?
A salt is random data that is used as an additional input to a one-way function that hashes data, a password or passphrase. Adding a salt ensures that identical original text will result in entirely different hashes, protecting against hash collision attacks and dictionary tables.