[Computers-Basics] What is timing attack?

An attack on a cryptographic system that exploits the fact that different cryptographic operations take slightly different amounts of time to process. The attacker exploits these slight time differences by carefully measuring the amount of time required to perform private key operations. Taking these measurements from a vulnerable system can reveal the entire secret key. Cryptographic tokens, network-based cryptosystems, and other applications where attackers can make reasonably accurate timing measurements are potentially at risk from this form of attack.

Posted by Hodie J