SHA-1 is one of the most prevalent forms of a secure hash algorithm used in the legal and security industry. Now that Professor Xiaoyun Wang and her associates in Tsinghua University and Shandong University of Technology <A HREF="http://blogs.zdnet.com/Ou/?p=409&tag=nl.e589">have officially cracked the SHA-1 hashing algorithm,</A> the fallout will begin. This won't actually be due to security concerns for the most part, but the legal ramifications may be severe.