Note: You can download my free String-to-hash converter that securely deals with passwords and converts them to MD5. It stores the string you provide in your desktop in a text file. DON'T convert your password to MD5 online, they add it to their databases. This software by me doesn't do that and it stores in your computer. If you need source code, you may drop in a comment here and I'll mail it to you. Download here: https://www.mediafire.com/?d8d91fp8m927lt1
In this world of today each and every software/website gets hacked one fine day, and we are left in tatters. Especially when the site is some banking or online shopping genre. Of course, it is natural for us to be so and we don't want anyone to be peeping in our financial activity in our day to day life. With recent reports of eBay, one of the biggest online retails of the world being hacked (READ: Reuters Article on eBay hack), many are scrambling now to change their passwords at the last moment. I, too have an account at eBay Inc and I am sitting cool here in my home. Absolutely tension-free. And the secret for it? Read on to know.
I had employed a technique known as "Dual-layer MD5 Hashing". For non-geeks and non-technicians, this term seems to be complex. I'll break it down for you then. MD5 is a cryptography function that converts any given text ("String") to a hash. It follows a particular algorithm to do that and is one-way, which means that it cannot be deciphered back into the original string. For example, say, I take "hello world" as a password. Too easy right? Now convert that to MD5. It becomes "5eb63bbbe01eeed093cb22bb8f5acdc3". Quite tough. We're not done yet. No website stores password in plain text format and rather converts them to some encrypted format. Most sites use SHA-1 or varieties to encrypt passwords. Now note, our password is not "hello world" and is, "5eb63bbbe01eeed093cb22bb8f5acdc3". The software converts it to "21344e5236e2497430af91cec38329964041a2f3".
That is what it is basically about. Bitly too was hacked. For those who didn't read through the entire text, I'll provide a short gist, step-wise. It should be easy to follow.
- Download this tool: https://www.mediafire.com/?d8d91fp8m927lt1
- Run it, enter "MD5" in the dialog box.
- It will ask you for the string. Put your password there.
- Hit Enter. It will display the MD5 hash of your password.
- It stores the resultant hash in your Desktop in a file named "Hash Log.txt". It is recommended you delete the text file containing the hash after you use it, so other people who may log in your computer may not misuse it.
- Enjoy, a tension-free life.
Be secure, stay safe!
