protected static boolean fixedTimeEqual(String lhs, String rhs) {

		boolean equal = (lhs.length() == rhs.length() ? true : false);

		// If not equal, work on a single operand to have same length.
		if (!equal) {
			rhs = lhs;
		}
		int len = lhs.length();
		for (int i = 0; i < len; i++) {
			if (lhs.charAt(i) == rhs.charAt(i)) {
				equal = equal && true;
			} else {
				equal = equal && false;
			}
		}

		return equal;
	}