Question 1

Is this GUID generator free to use?

Accepted Answer

Yes. All tools on KeyForge are free, with no account, rate limit, or usage cap.

Question 2

Are my keys, plaintext, or generated GUIDs sent to a server?

Accepted Answer

No. Every operation — UUID generation, encryption, decryption, and hashing — runs locally in your browser using the Web Crypto API. Nothing is transmitted to or stored on our servers.

Question 3

Which UUID version should I use?

Accepted Answer

Use v4 for general-purpose unique identifiers — it is random and collision-resistant. Use v5 when you need the same input to always produce the same UUID (e.g. deriving an ID from a URL). Use v1 only if you specifically need a timestamp-ordered identifier.

Question 4

Should I use AES-CBC or AES-GCM?

Accepted Answer

Prefer AES-GCM when available. It provides authenticated encryption, meaning any tampering with the ciphertext is detected automatically on decryption. AES-CBC encrypts the data but does not verify its integrity on its own.

Question 5

Is MD5 or SHA-1 safe to use?

Accepted Answer

Not for security-sensitive purposes. Both have known collision vulnerabilities and are unsuitable for password hashing or digital signatures. They remain fine for simple checksums where security is not a concern. Use SHA-256 or SHA-512 instead.

Question 6

Is Base64 encoding the same as encryption?

Accepted Answer

No. Base64 (and hex) encoding is a reversible text representation with no key and no security — anyone can decode it instantly. Use AES if you need actual confidentiality.

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