In cryptography, a message authentication code (often MAC) is a short piece of information used to authenticate a message and to detect message tampering and forgery.
A MAC algorithm, sometimes called a keyed (cryptographic) hash function, accepts as input a secret key and an arbitrary-length message to be authenticated, and outputs a MAC (sometimes known as a tag). The MAC value protects both a message's data integrity as well as its authenticity, by allowing verifiers (who also possess the secret key) to detect any changes to the message content.
Read more about Message Authentication Code: Security, Message Integrity Codes, Implementation, Standards, Example
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