What is a Side-Channel Attack?

A side-channel attack prioritises the indirect, non-digital data devices and systems inadvertently produce during regular operation, such as power usage, electromagnetic emissions, timing information, or even sounds.

Rather than targeting software bugs, these campaigns target the physical behaviour of hardware systems to collect sensitive data such as cryptographic keys or passwords.

Side-channel attacks can take numerous forms, such as an attacker who may watch a device’s power consumption to determine what cryptographic operations are being done or examine how long it takes a system to accomplish a particular activity. These tiny signals can then be combined to reveal important information about the system’s activities.

Cybercriminals frequently use side-channel tactics to harvest sensitive data from highly secure systems. Examples include obtaining encryption keys from intelligent cards, cracking password hashes, and monitoring data communications. Hence, these attacks are dangerous for businesses that significantly rely on encryption, such as finance, telecommunications, and defence.

Additionally, side-channel attacks are appealing to threat actors since they do not need direct software-based vulnerabilities despite being a highly sophisticated campaign. Furthermore, side-channel attacks exploit the complexities of human design in hardware systems.

By exploiting missed physical processes, attackers can acquire unauthorised access to secure data that would otherwise be extremely difficult to obtain.

Methods for an Effective Side Channel Attack

Attackers frequently mix several physical or environmental aspects to get essential information.

1. Power Analysis: This method involves attackers examining a device’s energy consumption while conducting cryptographic operations. Variations in power usage may reveal patterns that can be used to reconstruct private keys or passwords.
2. Electromagnetic Analysis: this campaign involves attackers capturing the electromagnetic radiation electronic equipment releases during processing. Even minor signal fluctuations can reveal critical details about the underlying data.
3. Timing Attacks: a frequent side-channel attack that determines how long a system takes to accomplish specific actions. By studying minor changes in processing time, attackers can derive sensitive information, such as encryption keys.
4. Acoustic Cryptanalysis: This method is more specialised but efficient. In it, attackers listen to the sounds made by a device, such as a keyboard or a printer, to obtain sensitive information. Even small audio fluctuations can reveal helpful information about a system’s activities.
5. Cache Attacks: Attackers use the time it takes for data to flow into and out of a system’s cache memory to extract sensitive information.

Side-channel attacks have become a significant worry for businesses globally because they target even the most secure hardware solutions. These assaults bypass typical cybersecurity protections, making them a considerable threat in contexts where data security is critical.

How can iZOOlogic Help My Company or Organisation?

Find out how iZOOlogic can protect against side-channel attacks through our Incident Response services.

To learn more about how iZOOlogic can help safeguard your company’s hardware security, schedule a demo.