Would you guys consider md5 to be encryption because the data is being changed? which I know its a hash function, but any text that is changed it considered encryption when its security purposes right?
thats what I thought some people on irc like 4 people was trying to say that md5 was not considered a encryption that it was considered a hash function. Which of course I know that, but I was trying to explain to someone md5 is just another form of encryption, just like sha is.
Well, it all depends on what your definition of encryption is. Generally encryption implies reversability and uniqueness, neither of which is provided by MD5. The fact that it is a hash (it basically reduces the information to a set-length small 'piece' of data) almost makes it impossible for it to be true encryption, but whatever.