Editing Message authentication code (section)

{{Short description|Information used for message authentication and integrity checking}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2023}} 
In [[cryptography]], a '''message authentication code''' ('''MAC'''), sometimes known as an '''authentication tag''', is a short piece of information used for [[authentication|authenticating]] and [[Data integrity|integrity]]-checking a message. In other words, it is used to confirm that the message came from the stated sender (its authenticity) and has not been changed (its integrity). The MAC value allows verifiers (who also possess a secret key) to detect any changes to the message content.