If you only care about random collisions, the 1 in 2^32 probability is close enough to right.<BR><BR>If you have to worry about attackers forging a hash, you need something with cryptographic ...

The potential for hash collision attack is garnering quite a bit of discussion on Twitter under the hash tag #hashdos and video of the researchers' presentation is posted on YouTube.

The attacks target weaknesses in the hash algorithms that permit multiple hash collisions to take place. This can quickly overload any application using a vulnerable hash algorithm.

Denial of service vulnerabilities have been found in hashes underpinning host of web applications including those offered by Google, Microsoft, Yahoo and those based on Java among scores of others.