Birthday attack definition – Glossary (2024)

A birthday attack is an attack that occurs when someone exploits the mathematics behind the birthday problem in probability theory to launch a cryptographic attack. The birthday problem states that in a group of 23 people, there’s a 50% chance that at least two will have the same birthday. This probability increases rapidly as the group size gets bigger. For instance, in a group of 50 people, the likelihood is already over 97%.

During a birthday attack, the attacker tries to find two different input messages that produce the same hash value, called a collision. By finding a collision, the attacker can deceive a system into believing that two other notes are identical. For instance, they can forge a digital signature or crack a password hash.

Birthday attacks pose a significant security threat because they are relatively easy to execute and can undermine various cryptographic systems.

See also: hybrid attack, hash function

Birthday attack definition – Glossary (2024)

FAQs

Birthday attack definition – Glossary? ›

A birthday attack is an attack that occurs when someone exploits the mathematics behind the birthday problem

birthday problem
The birthday paradox refers to the counterintuitive fact that only 23 people are needed for that probability to exceed 50%. The computed probability of at least two people sharing a birthday versus the number of people. The birthday paradox is a veridical paradox: it seems wrong at first glance but is, in fact, true.
https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Birthday_problem
in probability theory to launch a cryptographic attack. The birthday problem states that in a group of 23 people, there's a 50% chance that at least two will have the same birthday.

What is a birthday attack in simple terms? ›

In a birthday attack, an attacker randomly generates many inputs (like messages) and calculates their hash values. Then, these values are stored in a table. As more values are generated, the probability of a collision (two different inputs with the same hash) increases rapidly, just like the birthday paradox.

What is the difference between brute force attack and birthday attack? ›

The Birthday Attack generates multiple variations of an input and hashes them until two different inputs produce the same hash value (a collision). This approach exploits the mathematical probabilities to find collisions faster than brute force methods, which would require a significantly larger number of attempts.

What is the birthday problem in probability theory? ›

In probability theory, the birthday problem asks for the probability that, in a set of n randomly chosen people, at least two will share a birthday. The birthday paradox refers to the counterintuitive fact that only 23 people are needed for that probability to exceed 50%.

How does the birthday paradox work? ›

Due to probability, sometimes an event is more likely to occur than we believe it to. In this case, if you survey a random group of just 23 people there is actually about a 50–50 chance that two of them will have the same birthday. This is known as the birthday paradox.

What is the basic definition of attack? ›

1. : to set upon or work against forcefully. attack an enemy fortification. 2. : to assail with unfriendly or bitter words.

What is simple attack? ›

Simple attack: An attack executed in a single movement with no overt intention other than to hit the opponent. Simple attacks may be. direct: the attackers point or edge proceeds in a straight line to the target; indirect: on its way to the target the attackers blade passes over or under the defender's.

What is the difference between a collision attack and a birthday attack? ›

Birthday attacks are collision attacks that work by the effect of chance, with the colliding values obtained by some roughly random process (as in the birthday problem). Marc Stevens's Single-block collision for MD5 (2012) is an example of collision attack that is not a birthday attack.

What is a TLS birthday attack? ›

By capturing large amounts of encrypted traffic between the SSL/TLS server and the client, a remote attacker able to conduct a man-in-the-middle attack could exploit this vulnerability to recover the plaintext data and obtain sensitive information. This vulnerability is known as the SWEET32 Birthday attack.

What is brute force attack in simple words? ›

A brute force attack is a hacking method that uses trial and error to crack passwords, login credentials, and encryption keys. It is a simple yet reliable tactic for gaining unauthorized access to individual accounts and organizations' systems and networks.

What is the birthday paradox for 57 people? ›

The answer in probability is quite surprising: in a group of at least 23 randomly chosen people, the probability that some pair of them having the same birthday is more than 50%. For 57 or more people, the probability reaches more than 99%. And of course, the probability reaches 100% if there are 367 or more people.

What is the famous birthday problem? ›

In a room of just 23 people there's a 50-50 chance of at least two people having the same birthday. In a room of 75 there's a 99.9% chance of at least two people matching. Put down the calculator and pitchfork, I don't speak heresy. The birthday paradox is strange, counter-intuitive, and completely true.

What is the rarest birthday? ›

February 29th: February 29th (Leap Day during Leap Year) is the rarest birthday with only a one in roughly 1,460 chance of being born on this date. February is one of the least popular months for new births. The second rarest birthday is Christmas Eve, December 24th.

What is the most common month to be born in? ›

July through October tends to be the most popular birth months in the United States. August is, overall, the most popular month for birthdays, which makes sense. A late August birthday means December conception.

What is the proof of the birthday paradox? ›

If there were 23 names and 365 boxes (one for each day of the year), then most of the boxes would be empty. In reality, there is a 50:50 chance that two people will share a birthday in a group.

What is the birthday paradox for 23 people? ›

The birthday paradox is a mathematical phenomenon that demonstrates the surprising probability of two people in a group having the same birthday. Despite the seemingly low odds, in a group of just 23 people, there is a greater than 50% chance of at least two people sharing a birthday.

Which of the following is a way to protect against birthday attacks? ›

To prevent birthday attacks, consider the following measures: Use secure hash functions with large hash code length: Implement secure cryptographic hash functions with sufficiently large hash code sizes, such as SHA-256, to expand the code space and minimize the probability of collisions.

What are the odds two people share the same birthday? ›

The odds are 1/366, or 0.0027%! And those aren't very good odds. That's why when you meet someone who has the same birthday as you, it always seems like a neat coincidence.

What is meant by a dictionary attack? ›

A dictionary attack is a method of breaking into a password-protected computer, network or other IT resource by systematically entering every word in a dictionary, or word list, as a password. A dictionary attack can also be used in an attempt to find the key necessary to decrypt an encrypted message or document.

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