sidechannel

noun

1. An 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.”

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

   “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.”

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.”

   “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.”

   “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.”