File checksums are fingerprint-like fixed data strings assigned to files when they are saved. Checksum algorithms, such as SHA1 and SHA512, are used to monitor checksum files to detect accidental modification of a file, such as corruption during the storage or transmission process. These algorithms match checksums against each other to look for discrepancies; if any exist, the file is known to have been modified.
The File Properties monitor can monitor current checksum for a file to ensure that it has not been modified by matching the checksum specified in the monitor-configuration to the current checksum. If the monitor finds mismatched checksums, the file is corrupted.