Whispering devices: A survey on how side-channels lead to compromised information
Abstract
While operating, information processing devices or communication systems may emit unwanted signals (or alter existing ones) through electromagnetic waves, light, sound or power drain. These side-channels can be intercepted by anyone with scientific or technical knowledge and appropriate equipment, leading to a potentially high risk of security breaches. This survey focuses on these emanation side-channels and provides an extensive literature review. To provide an in-depth analysis despite the variety of attacks, we propose to classify the sidechannels based on their criticality, their intentionality, the type of attackers, and the physical medium. Illustrative use-cases are presented and serve as a basis to infer individual threats. Particular attention is paid to electromagnetic side-channels which exhibit the highest criticality and have therefore been used in the most recent attacks. The main characteristics of the sidechannels revealed by state-of-the-art papers are summarized and recommendations on countermeasures are provided to protect any sensitive equipment.
Origin | Files produced by the author(s) |
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