Side Channel Attacks

A sensitive, secret computer installation may be made very secure. It may be surrounded by high electrified fences, employ a small army of guards, be protected by powerful firewalls complemented by watchful system programmers working three shifts, and run virus detection software continuously.

Yet, it is possible to spy on such an installation “from the side” by capturing and listening to information that is continuously and unintentionally leaked by electronic devices inside.

This attack type is called a side channel attack, and is one in which the attacker listens to data that the computer or its hardware components 'emit' and uses this information to infer what kind of activity the computer is doing and, if the spying equipment is strong, even infer sensitive data.

Let's explain what we mean by 'emitting' data.