A machine characterization device for determining one or more hardware specification parameters of a computing device, said computing device comprising one or more processors, each processor being configured to execute one or more instructions, wherein the machine characterization device comprises: - a storage unit configured to store at least one machine characterization instruction and at least two machine configurations, a machine characterization instruction being an instruction associated with a timer for measuring the time of execution of said machine characterization instruction, a machine configuration comprising a sequence of two or more machine configuration instructions defining an order of execution of the one or more instructions by said each processor, and - a processing unit configured to: • determine, in association with each machine characterization instruction executed by said one or more processors, a set of timing measurements measuring, using said timer, the time of execution of said machine characterization instruction; • determine, from each set of timing measurements, a mean value, a dispersion value, a difference of means value, and a difference of dispersions value, said mean value being the mean of the set of timing measurements associated with said at least one machine characterization instruction, said dispersion value being a statistical dispersion of said set of timing measurements, said difference of means values being the difference between the mean values determined for said at least two machine configurations, said difference of dispersions values being the difference between the dispersion values determined for said at least two machine configurations; • determine a machine signature as a binary representation of said mean value, said dispersion value, said difference of means value, and said difference of dispersion value, and • determine said one or more hardware specification parameters depending on said machine signature. - a storage unit configured to store at least one machine characterization instruction and at least two machine configurations, a machine characterization instruction being an instruction associated with a timer for measuring the time of execution of said machine characterization instruction, a machine configuration comprising a sequence of two or more machine configuration instructions defining an order of execution of the one or more instructions by said each processor, and - a processing unit configured to: • determine, in association with each machine characterization instruction executed by said one or more processors, a set of timing measurements measuring, using said timer, the time of execution of said machine characterization instruction; • determine, from each set of timing measurements, a mean value, a dispersion value, a difference of means value, and a difference of dispersions value, said mean value being the mean of the set of timing measurements associated with said at least one machine characterization instruction, said dispersion value being a statistical dispersion of said set of timing measurements, said difference of means values being the difference between the mean values determined for said at least two machine configurations, said difference of dispersions values being the difference between the dispersion values determined for said at least two machine configurations; • determine a machine signature as a binary representation of said mean value, said dispersion value, said difference of means value, and said difference of dispersion value, and • determine said one or more hardware specification parameters depending on said machine signature. • determine, in association with each machine characterization instruction executed by said one or more processors, a set of timing measurements measuring, using said timer, the time of execution of said machine characterization instruction; • determine, from each set of timing measurements, a mean value, a dispersion value, a difference of means value, and a difference of dispersions value, said mean value being the mean of the set of timing measurements associated with said at least one machine characterization instruction, said dispersion value being a statistical dispersion of said set of timing measurements, said difference of means values being the difference between the mean values determined for said at least two machine configurations, said difference of dispersions values being the difference between the dispersion values determined for said at least two machine configurations; • determine a machine signature as a binary representation of said mean value, said dispersion value, said difference of means value, and said difference of dispersion value, and • determine said one or more hardware specification parameters depending on said machine signature.