This is because you can calculate the hash value on the file that you downloaded, and then if it matches the one that is mentioned in the website, you can have the surety that the file is not corrupted/and is unaltered.MD5 and SHA1 are primarily used to verify integrity of files. You might have noticed websites that provides MD5 & SHA1 hash values of the file that you want to download. Some of the popular hash algorithms are MD5, SHA1 etc. If both the values(of the sender and the receiver) tallies, then the data is uncorrupted/unaltered.Thanks to cryptographers who designed hash algorithms. Once the data is received, the receiver also calculates the checksum. The value calculated is either sent along with the message, or through other methods. Whatever may be the case, there needs to be a method where the receiver can verify and figure out easily if the data is altered or corrupted.Generally what happens is this.The sender calculates a short checksum value(very small in size) which represents the message/data that is being sent. When you send and receive data over the wire, there are possibilities where the data can get corrupted, altered, or modified(it can be accidental, purposely done with evil intention).
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