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key material
The actual secret bytes that make up a cryptographic key.
A key isn't an abstract idea — it's a specific string of secret bytes, and that raw secret is the key material. Because anyone holding it can decrypt or impersonate, careful systems wipe key material from memory the moment it's no longer needed so it can't be recovered later. In microZeus, 'dead key material is wiped' as soon as it's spent.
See also
- key scheduleThe step-by-step process that derives the actual encryption keys used in a session from an initial shared secret.
- leaf certificateThe specific certificate that proves a single website's identity, at the bottom of a chain of trust.
- low-order-point rejectionA safety check that refuses certain malicious inputs which would weaken elliptic-curve key exchange.
Referenced by
key schedule · leaf certificate · low-order-point rejection · MD5