ISO/IEC 9797-2:2002 specifies three MAC algorithms that use a secret key and a hash-function (or its round-function) with an n-bit result to calculate an m-bit MAC. These mechanisms can be used as data integrity mechanisms to verify that data has not been altered in an unauthorised manner. They can also be used as message authentication mechanisms to provide assurance that a message has been originated by an entity in possession of the secret key. The strength of the data integrity mechanism and message authentication mechanism is dependent on the length (in bits) k and secrecy of the key, on the length (in bits) n of a hash-code produced by the hash-function, on the strength of the hash-function, on the length (in bits) m of the MAC, and on the specific mechanism.

The three mechanisms specified in ISO/IEC 9797-2:2002 are based on the dedicated hash-functions specified in ISO/IEC 10118-3. The first mechanism specified in ISO/IEC 9797-2:2002 is commonly known as MDx-MAC. It calls the complete hash-function once, but it makes a small modification to the round-function by adding a key to the additive constants in the round-function. The second mechanism specified in ISO/IEC 9797-2:2002 is commonly known as HMAC. It calls the complete hash-function twice. The third mechanism specified in ISO/IEC 9797-2:2002 is a variant of MDx-MAC that takes as input only short strings (at most 256 bits). It offers a higher performance for applications that work with short input strings only.

ISO/IEC 9797-2:2002 can be applied to the security services of any security architecture, process, or application.