Side Channel Timing Attack Demonstration

Demonstration of a timing-based side channel attack. This attack takes advantage of a known timing imbalance in the standard ANSI C memcmp function, in which it exits as soon as a compared byte does not match. This results in the function taking a longer time given the more bytes that match between the compared blocks of memory. As long as there's a measurable timing imbalance, a system can be exploited regardless of the particular compare process used.

More hardware hacking projects and presentations can be found at http://www.grandideastudio.com/portfolio/security/

NOTE: I FAIL AT MATH! From 1:24-1:33 where I'm describing the maximum possible key press combinations for a 4-digit PIN with 4 choices each (4*4*4*4), I incorrectly state 1024 as the answer. That's not true. It's 256. Still, the timing attack is an extremely useful method to reduce the keyspace needed for a brute force attack.

Видео Side Channel Timing Attack Demonstration канала Joe Grand