3 ms·

even knowing what a timing attack is, that text left me with a wtf look. can anyone not familiar with the matter actually understand the idea proposed on the 1

• pbhjpbhj 15y ago
  Switching the name of the eponymous hero mid paragraph doesn't exactly help. From the previous links to book excerpts here I've got to say I find this writing style is pretty opaque. I think I'd render it like this (not the prose, the situation): Jane is not too bright. She picks a password by pulling a page out of her one-word-on-a-page dictionary. Lauren writes her guess at the password on a pad. Then Jane compares the guess and the password one letter at a time. Jane rejects the password as soon as she meets a letter that doesn't match. It takes her about 2s to compare each letter. Lauren is allowed as many guesses as she likes. I think that works as suitably unrealistic but understandable example of a timing attack? For bonus marks (advanced readers) you could calculate the expected time before Lauren cracks the password.