Web and XML Glossary

The MD2 Algorithm takes as input a message of arbitrary length and produces as output a 128-bit "fingerprint" or "message digest" of the input. It is conjectured that it is computationally infeasible to produce two messages having the same message digest, or to produce any message having a given pre-specified target message digest. MD2 is optimized for 8-bit machines and intended for digital signature applications, where a large file must be "compressed" in a secure manner before being encrypted with a private key under a Public-Key Cryptography system such as RSA.