avalanche effect
Small change, chaos
The avalanche effect describes how a small change cascades into dramatically larger consequences.
In cryptography, it means changing one bit of input should flip roughly half the output bits—a desirable property ensuring small differences produce wildly different results.
More broadly, any chain reaction where effects multiply: One default triggered an avalanche effect across the banking sector.
Self-sustaining causal sequence
- snowballingIncreasing by rapid accumulation
- amplificationIncrease in intensity
- feedback loopSelf-modifying cyclical process
- exponential growthQuantity multiplying proportionally over time
compounding · propagation · spillover · contagion · escalation · momentum · triggering · spreading
Mental disorientation or bewilderment
- diffusionPassive molecular spreading
- SHACryptographic digest algorithm
- MD5Cryptographic fingerprint algorithm
- AESSymmetric encryption standard
DES · ciphertext · plaintext · entropy · randomness · cryptanalysis · permutation · substitution
chain reaction
Self-sustaining causal sequence
- snowballingIncreasing by rapid accumulation
- amplificationIncrease in intensity
- feedback loopSelf-modifying cyclical process
exponential growth · compounding · propagation · spillover · contagion · escalation · momentum · triggering · spreading · acceleration
confusion
Mental disorientation or bewilderment
- diffusionPassive molecular spreading
- SHACryptographic digest algorithm
- MD5Cryptographic fingerprint algorithm
AES · DES · ciphertext · plaintext · entropy · randomness · cryptanalysis · permutation · substitution · completeness
avalanche effectlinear progression
Movement in one direction only
proportional response · attrition · slow burn · controlled descent
avalanche effectnegative feedback
Response indicating problems
homeostasis · self-correction · damping · equilibrium · stabilization
avalanche effectcontainment
Preventing hostile expansion
compartmentalization · graceful degradation · sandboxing · encapsulation · quarantine
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