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Threat actor

As explained in Real-World Cryptography

An entity that attempts to exploit, interfere with, or defeat the security of a protocol or system.

An adversary is an entity trying to break, interfere with, or exploit a protocol. It may be a participant, observer, or man in the middle. section 1.5

The unattended sword

Leaving a sword on the ground while taking a nap ignores the person who could steal it. A sound protocol accounts for that adversary before trusting the result. section 1.1

Useful adversary perspectives include:

  • A participant who tries to defeat the protocol. section 1.5
  • An observer who watches communications. section 1.5
  • A man in the middle who interferes with communication. section 1.5

How Real-World Cryptography covers it

How deep it goes
Defines adversaries intuitively through participant, observer, and man-in-the-middle roles without formal threat models.
Examples
Uses an unattended sword, a thief, an observer, and a man in the middle to illustrate adversarial behavior.
What you can do after
Evaluate protocols by asking which participants, observers, or intermediaries could interfere with their intended results.
How it connects
Connects adversaries with protocols, cryptography, confidentiality, authentication, and man-in-the-middle attacks.
Cover of Real-World Cryptography
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Related concepts

This explainer was generated by Manning's knowledge graph from the text of Real-World Cryptography. The section links point to the parts of the book it draws on.