EC-Council Certified Encryption Specialist (ECES) Practice Test

MD5 and SHA-256 are both widely recognized hashing algorithms that serve to create a fixed-size hash value from input data of arbitrary size. They are commonly used for ensuring data integrity and storing passwords securely.

SHA-256, which is part of the SHA-2 family of hash functions, is particularly notable for its security properties. It generates a 256-bit hash value and is considered more secure than older algorithms like MD5. SHA-256 is extensively utilized in various applications, including digital signatures, certificate generation, and blockchain technology, due to its resistance to collision attacks.

On the other hand, AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) is a symmetric key encryption algorithm, not a hashing algorithm, and DHE (Diffie-Hellman Ephemeral) is a key exchange protocol, also unrelated to hashing. Therefore, among the given options, SHA-256 stands out as the correct common hashing algorithm.