• MSids@lemmy.world
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    11 days ago

    Checksums wouldnt work well for their purposes if they could easily be made to match any desired checksum. It’s one way math.

    • mox@lemmy.sdf.orgOP
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      11 days ago

      One-way math doesn’t preclude finding a collision.

      (And just to be clear, checksum in the context of this conversation is a generic term that includes cryptographic hashes and perceptual hashes.)

      Also, since we’re talking about a list of checksums that could get someone in trouble, an attacker wouldn’t even have to find a collision with a specific one. This makes an attack far easier. See also: the birthday problem.