RIPEMD

A family of cryptographic hash functions developed in Europe, with RIPEMD-160 the best known.

RIPEMD is a family of hash functions created as an open European alternative to other digests, with RIPEMD-160 producing a 160-bit output still seen in some applications such as cryptocurrency address derivation. Like other older hashes, the original 128-bit RIPEMD is considered weak, while RIPEMD-160 has held up better but is not preferred over the SHA-2 family for new designs. On the exam, recognize RIPEMD as a named hash family rather than a current first choice. The general guidance remains to prefer SHA-2 or SHA-3.