An MD5 hash is a 128-bit fingerprint of a piece of data, generated by the Message-Digest Algorithm 5. It's used to verify data integrity and authenticity, ensuring that a file or message hasn't been tampered with during transmission or storage. While it was once commonly used for cryptographic purposes, MD5 is now considered insecure due to vulnerabilities that allow for collision attacks.

Some websites, like breachdirectory.org, will show a partial of leaked passwords in clear text and in md5 hash form. A person can take this hash and visit the crackstation.net website and paste that hash into the box to crack it. If a match is found, then the whole password will be revealed in clear text. Some hashes cannot be cracked. Although, there are many other websites that can do the same process, some websites like www.hashes.com will most of the time have a result for the cracked hash.

You can visit crackstation.net and hashes.com by clicking the tabs below.