A security analyst is reviewing the source code of a legacy application and discovers a function that is used to hash user passwords before storing them. The function consistently produces a 128-bit hash value. The organization's security policy requires migrating away from any algorithms known to be weak or deprecated. Which of the following hashing algorithms was most likely used in this legacy application?
MD5 (Message Digest 5) is a hashing algorithm that produces a 128-bit fixed-size hash value. It is considered a legacy algorithm with known vulnerabilities and is no longer recommended for security purposes like password hashing. SHA-1 produces a 160-bit hash. SHA-256 is part of the SHA-2 family and produces a 256-bit hash. RIPEMD-160 produces a 160-bit hash.
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Why is MD5 considered outdated for security purposes?