Measuring System-on-a-Chip Data Leaks over Radio Transmissions of Small Satellites

Abstract

Continuing the topics posed in “Identifying System-on-a-Chip Data Leaks over Radio Transmissions of Small Satellites”, this article extends the exploration of data leakage of system-on-a-chip transceivers to quantifying suspected leaks. Specifically, it poses a measurement for the impact of a data leak on the device’s cryptographic security. Cryptography is a key security element for satellite communication, so it is important to characterize the impact that data leaks could introduce. In particular, this research contributes to the work posed in “Screaming Channels: When Electromagnetic Side Channels Meet Radio Transceivers.” The results show how the proposed measurement is calculated for four system-on-a-chip transceivers.