Modifications of SHA-0 to prevent attacks

Abstract

One of the most popular hash algorithms is the SHA-0, proposed by NTST. However, researchers have already found security flaws in SHA-0, thereby also posing a threat against other algorithms of the SHA family. In this paper we present two simple modifications which can be easily incorporated into the original SHA-0 algorithm to make it secure against one of its most basic attack methodologies. We further show that the modified algorithm performs equally well as the original one when compared against standard metrics that are used to evaluate hash functions. We have developed a prototype tool to compare and evaluate the modified and the original SHA-0 algorithm. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2005.