Luhn Algorithm and number generation

Posted by freegiftcardgenerator on March 30th, 2019

The Luhn algorithm or Luhn formula, also known as the "modulus 10" or "mod 10" algorithm, named after IBM scientist Hans Peter Luhn, is a simple checksum formula used to validate a variety of identification numbers, such as credit card numbers, IMEI numbers, National Provider Identifier numbers in the United States, Canadian Social Insurance Numbers, Israel ID Numbers, Greek Social Security Numbers (ΑΜΚΑ), and survey codes appearing on McDonald's, Taco Bell, and Tractor Supply Co. receipts.

It was created by IBM scientist Hans Peter Luhn and described in U.S. Patent No. 2,950,048, filed on January 6, 1954, and granted on August 23, 1960. The algorithm is in the public domain and is in wide use today. It is specified in ISO/IEC 7812-1.[1] It is not intended to be a cryptographically secure hash function; it was designed to protect against accidental errors, not malicious attacks. Most credit cards and many government identification numbers use the algorithm as a simple method of distinguishing valid numbers from mistyped or otherwise incorrect numbers.

This algorithm is public domain and has been used by some to create credit card generators that can generate the number, csv, exp dates, name, even the address of the fake individual. This is a very useful tool to have when you need to have some sample data to test databases and functions. The algo can also be used to create gift card code generators among other random number generators. These gift card code generators can run the gambit of just being random, to actually testing the code they generate in a brute force kind of way until they find one that works. This brute force method is highly inefficient and unreliable, but it ramains one of the few ways to actually generate and test free gift card codes.