Information leaked from smart cards and other tamper resistant
cryptographic devices can be statistically analyzed to determine keys or
other secret data. A data collection and analysis system is configured
with an analog-to-digital converter connected to measure the device's
consumption of electrical power, or some other property of the target
device, that varies during the device's processing. As the target device
performs cryptographic operations, data from the A/D converter are
recorded for each cryptographic operation. The stored data are then
processed using statistical analysis, yielding the entire key, or partial
information about the key that can be used to accelerate a brute force
search or other attack.