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Work factor is a measure of the time or effort required to overcome a protective measure. It can be used in cryptography, physical security, and other fields.
Definition
Estimate of the effort or time needed by a potential perpetrator, with specified expertise and resources, to overcome a protective measure.
SOURCE: CNSSI-4009
Examples: time required to brute-force a password, amount of memory required to perform a certain cryptographic operation, etc.
Cryptography
- In cryptography, work factor is the estimated time or effort required to break a cryptosystem.
- A higher work factor means more effort is required to break the system. This makes it more secure.
- Examples of work factors in cryptography include the time required to brute-force a password or the amount of memory required to perform an operation.
Physical security
- In physical security, work factor is a rating that estimates how long it would take to compromise a physical security product.
- An example is a bank might use a work factor rating to determine what kind of safe to purchase to store gold bullion.
Oil and gas drilling
- In oil and gas drilling, work factor is an estimate of the time or effort required to overcome a protective measure.
