Final answer:
A robust message digest algorithm should offer collision resistance, pre-image resistance, second pre-image resistance, high processing speed, and demonstrate the avalanche effect, where small message changes lead to significant changes in the digest.
Step-by-step explanation:
A robust message digest algorithm is essential in ensuring data integrity and security in various applications such as digital signatures, password storage, and blockchain technology. Desired properties of such an algorithm include:
- Collision Resistance: It should be computationally infeasible to find two different messages that produce the same message digest.
- Pre-image Resistance: Given a message digest, it should be very difficult to find any message that hashes to that digest.
- Second Pre-image Resistance: It should be challenging to find a different message with the same digest as a given message.
- High Speed: Processes messages quickly to generate digests without significant delays.
- Small Changes in Message Lead to Significant Change: A small alteration in the message should result in a substantially different message digest, known as the avalanche effect.
These properties ensure that a message digest algorithm can be reliably used in secure communications and data storage.