Integrity checks are often overlooked but they remain quite important

Ever wondered what the long set of numbers (and maybe alphanumeric characters) that you often find on a download page is meant to be used for? When software companies develop an application for download on the internet, they often use an hashing algorithm (mostly md5 or SHA2) to generate a message digest for the application. Before installation, you should use an integrity checker to verify the checksum as there is no guarantee that a malware has not altered your downloaded application. Examples of free integrity checks that can be used to create checksums are Microsoft File Checksum Integrity Verifier and onlinemd5.com. The tools will enable you upload the application and also choose the type of algorithm used by the software company (you will get this from the download page). After generating your hash, inspect the generated codes from the ones provided by the software company. If there is any discrepancy, then you should not install the application as it has been compromised.

Whenever there is a need to download an application, always perform an integrity check before installing it on your machine!