| General | |
|---|---|
| Designers | Hans Dobbertin, Antoon Bosselaers and Bart Preneel |
| First published | 1992 |
| Certification | RIPEMD-160: CRYPTREC (Monitored) |
| Detail | |
| Digest sizes | 128, 160, 256, 320 bits |
RIPEMD (RIPE Message Digest) is a family of cryptographic hash functions developed in 1992 (the original RIPEMD) and 1996 (other variants). There are five functions in the family: RIPEMD, RIPEMD-128, RIPEMD-160, RIPEMD-256, and RIPEMD-320, of which RIPEMD-160 is the most common.[citation needed]
The original RIPEMD, as well as RIPEMD-128, is not considered secure because 128-bit result is too small and also (for the original RIPEMD) because of design weaknesses. The 256- and 320-bit versions of RIPEMD provide the same level of security as RIPEMD-128 and RIPEMD-160, respectively; they are designed for applications where the security level is sufficient but longer hash result is necessary.
While RIPEMD functions are less popular than SHA-1 and SHA-2, they are used, among others, in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies based on Bitcoin.[citation needed]