Timing Attacks: Extracting Keys from Execution Time
Demonstrate a cache-timing attack on a non-constant-time implementation.
What Is a Timing Attack?
A timing attack is a side-channel attack where an adversary measures how long cryptographic operations take to infer secret data. Even nanosecond differences can leak key bits.
Why Execution Time Leaks Secrets
Branches and memory accesses inside crypto code often depend on secret values. A loop that exits early on a zero bit runs faster — the attacker measures that difference.
All lessons in this course
- Timing Attacks: Extracting Keys from Execution Time
- Power Analysis: SPA & DPA
- Electromagnetic & Acoustic Side Channels
- Countermeasures: Masking, Blinding & Constant-Time Code