Tool Introduction
The MD4 encryption tool provides an efficient and convenient online platform for generating MD4 hash values for any given data. MD4 (Message Digest Algorithm 4) is a cryptographic hash function designed to generate message digests, mapping data of arbitrary length to a fixed-length hash value (usually 128 bits). This tool not only supports MD4 encryption of "plaintext" but also handles various "input types" such as "Hex", "Base64", and "Bytes". It also allows users to flexibly configure "output case", "output bits" (32-bit or 16-bit), add "salt value" to enhance security, and adjust "encryption rounds" and select different "character encoding" formats to meet your diverse MD4 hash calculation needs.
How to Use
- Enter the original data you need to perform MD4 hash calculation on in the "String to be encrypted" text area.
- According to your input data format, select the corresponding type from the "Input Type" dropdown menu, such as "Plaintext", "Hex", "Base64", or "Bytes".
- In the "Case" option, choose whether you want the hash result to be in "Lowercase" or "Uppercase" form.
- In "Output Bits", select "32" or "16". 32-bit represents the hexadecimal representation of the complete 128-bit hash value, and 16-bit is its truncated form.
- (Optional) If you need to enhance security, you can fill in the salt value in the "Salt" input box and select its "Salt Position" ("Prefix" or "Suffix").
- Set the number of repetitions for hash calculation in "Encryption Rounds", defaulting to 1.
- Select the encoding format of the string to be encrypted from the "Character Encoding" dropdown menu, such as "UTF-8", "ASCII", or "ISO-8859-1".
- After configuration, the tool will automatically calculate and display the MD4 hash results in real-time, including Hex, Base64, and Bytes formats.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Q: What is the difference between MD4 encryption and MD5 encryption?
- A: MD4 is the predecessor of MD5, and both are hash algorithms. MD4 is simpler in design than MD5 and has relatively lower security, so MD5 (or stronger SHA series algorithms) are more common in modern encryption applications. MD4 generates a 128-bit hash value.
- Q: What is the difference between 32-bit and 16-bit output?
- A: The MD4 algorithm itself generates a 128-bit (16-byte) hash value. When converted to a hexadecimal string, it is usually 32 characters (one hexadecimal character for every 4 bits). Selecting "32" bits means outputting the hexadecimal form of the complete 128-bit hash value. While "16" bits usually truncates the middle 16 characters of the 32-bit hexadecimal result. This truncation significantly reduces the uniqueness and security of the hash value and is only used in specific scenarios compatible with older systems or where high security is not required.
- Q: What is the purpose of adding a salt value?
- A: A salt value is random data that is combined with the original input string (as a prefix or suffix) before hashing. Its main purpose is to prevent rainbow table attacks and pre-computation attacks, so that even if two users have the same password, due to the addition of different salt values, the final generated hash values will be different, thereby greatly increasing the difficulty of cracking.
Notes
- Be sure to select the correct option in "Input Type" according to your original data type. If the input is in Hex format but "Plaintext" is selected, the tool will treat the Hex string itself as plain text, resulting in an incorrect hash value.
- When using a "salt value", remember its specific content and "salt position". When verifying or matching hash values, the exact same original string, salt value, and salt position must be used to obtain consistent results.
- Selecting "16"-bit output significantly reduces the uniqueness and security of the hash value and is not recommended for scenarios requiring high security.
- The "Encryption Rounds" parameter can increase the complexity of MD4 hash calculation, thereby improving the ability to resist brute-force attacks to a certain extent, but it will also increase the calculation time accordingly.
- Ensure that the correct "Character Encoding" is selected to avoid incorrect hash results due to encoding mismatches, especially when dealing with non-ASCII characters.
