CRIME
CRIME stands for “Compression Ratio Info-leak Made Easy”. It’s a security attack that can happen when a web application uses the HTTPS protocol.
Think of HTTPS like a locked box. When you send information, like your username and password, over HTTPS, it’s like putting that information in the locked box and sending it to the website you’re using. CRIME can happen when a hacker figures out a way to listen in on the locked box as you’re sending information.
CRIME works like this: when you send information over HTTPS, what you’re actually sending is an encrypted message. To make that encrypted message smaller and faster to send, some web applications use a technique called compression. This is like shrinking the message so it’s easier to send.
The problem is that when you compress a message, you can actually leak information. Think of it like this: if the locked box was full of marbles, and you shrunk it with a compressor, the compressed box would still look the same, but now you can tell how many marbles were inside based on how much the box shrank.
CRIME works by using that same idea to figure out what information is being sent over HTTPS. By listening in on the messages being sent, the hacker can use the changes in the size of the compressed message to figure out what information is being sent.
So, in short, CRIME is a way for hackers to figure out what information is being sent over HTTPS by listening in on the compressed messages being sent. It’s important to note that websites can take precautions to prevent CRIME attacks from happening by disabling compression or using other security measures.