Industry Expert Blogs

We describe how side-channel attacks work and detail some of the most common attack methodologies. We also explore differential power analysis (DPA), an extremely powerful side-channel attack capable of obtaining and analyzing statistical measurements across multiple operations. In addition, we provide a walkthrough of a DPA attack and explain how different countermeasures with varying levels of effectiveness can be used to prevent side-channel attacks.

Table of contents

1. What is a side-channel attack?
2. How does a side channel attack work?
3. What attacks use side channel analysis?
4. DPA explained
5. DPA & Paul Kocher
6. Technical example of a differential power analysis attack
7. Countermeasures: Preventing Side-channel attacks
8. Final thoughts