File Checksums Main Features

Checksum functions are related to hash functions, fingerprints, randomization functions, and cryptographic hash functions. However, each of those concepts has different applications and consequently different design goals.
Depending upon the nature of the transmission and the desired reliability, checksums may take on various forms.
Check digits and parity bits are special cases of checksums, suitable for small blocks of data like Social Security numbers, bank account numbers, computer words, single bytes, etc.
Checksums can only be run on individual files, and not on folders. As such, they are generally included with disk images and zipped files, but can also be run on individual components of an application package.
The procedure that yields the checksum from the data is called a checksum function or checksum algorithm. A good checksum algorithm will yield a different result with high probability when the data is accidentally corrupted; if the checksums match, the data is very likely to be free of accidental errors.
The basic goal of checksum algorithms is to detect accidental modification such as corruption to stored data or errors in a communication channel.
A number of error-correcting codes are based on special checksums that not only detect common errors but also allow the original data to be recovered in certain cases.
Checksums are not designed to detect intentional corruption by a malicious agent.

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