perl crypt()

[trevor]

i was just wondering what encryption the perl command crypt(); uses, ie. md5 md4 etc....

thanks,
Trevor

[Belisarius]

Not that I'm a perl user, but I'd assume it uses the Unix crypt() algorithm.

[joe_bruin]

i would imagine it's a straightforward passthrough to the system crypt(3) function. in classic mode, crypt(3) produces a salted DES 'hash'. most bsd systems (and i bet some linux), allow you to select a more powerful algorithm (md5, blowfish, etc) by special variations of the salt value.

if you want strong hashes, don't use crypt (unless you're using it in extended mode and selecting a stronger algorithm). use md5, sha, or ripemd instead.