sidechannel

S1I1D2E1C3H4A1N1N1E1L1

noun

An indirect source of information about what a system is doing, such as execution time, version number, etc.

Scrabble 17

Meanings

nounsidechannel (plural sidechannels)

plural sidechannels · alternative side-channel

  1. securitycomputingAn indirect source of information about what a system is doing, such as execution time, version number, etc.

    VLSI circuits are open to sidechannel attacks which disclose information about its internal state to an adversary.

    2005, Subhamoy Maitra, C.E. Veni Madhavan, Ramarathnam Venkatesan, Progress in Cryptology - INDOCRYPT 2005, →ISBN
    2 more examples

    Timing attacks are an example of sidechannel analysis: examining ways a device can inadvertently transmit information, in addition to its official I/O channels.

    2007, Sean Smith, John Marchesini, The Craft of System Security, →ISBN

    Due to their non-invasive, non-harming manner, and the rarely available and the yet more rarely implemented proper countermeasures, sidechannel attacks are a particularly dangerous attack method against many vehicular IT security mechanisms.

    2009, Marko Wolf, Security Engineering for Vehicular IT Systems, →ISBN
  2. A small branch from the main flow of a river, hydraulic system, or electronic circuit.

    Juvenile growth and survivorship is likely to be reduced by cumulative losses of pool volume and sedimentation of shallow rearing areas such as stream margins and sidechannels.

    2001, Bitterroot National Forest (N.F.), Burned Area Recovery, Final Environmental Impact Statement
    2 more examples

    Among all 16 fish, eight showed an association with sidechannel habitat during the spring, being either located in a sidechannel or residing in the mainstem within one habitat unit of where a sidechannel flowed into the mainstem.

    2007, Travis B. Sanderson, Habitat Diversity and Access to Tributaries are Important to Adult Snake River Cutthroat Trout Residing in the Salt River, Wyoming (MS thesis, University of Wyoming), →ISBN

    However as the two sidechannel transients are markedly different, because the flow is asymmetric, the value of fitting the model data to the average sidechannel transient is questionable.

    2013, Geoff Bearne, Marc Dupuis, Gary Tarcy, Essential Readings in Light Metals, Aluminum Reduction Technology, →ISBN

Origin

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Cite this entry
APA

sidechannel. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sidechannel

MLA

“sidechannel.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sidechannel. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “sidechannel,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sidechannel.

Source: sidechannel on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.