SoK: Acoustic Side Channels
SoK: Acoustic Side Channels
Acoustic side channels (ASCs) have been discovered for several decades, highlighting the tangible security risks posed by unintended sound emissions from computing and electronic systems. Their existence has drawn considerable attention from researchers, driving rapid progress in both attack methodologies and defense mechanisms across a wide range of scenarios. In this paper, we provide a state-of-the-art analysis of ASCs, covering all the significant academic research in the area. First, we clarify existing ambiguities and conceptual confusion, proposing a clear definition of ASC. Second, we analyse the characteristics of known ASCs, discuss their security implications, and propose the first taxonomy. Next, we summarise attack techniques, discuss countermeasures, and identify areas for future research. We also link side channels and inverse problems, two fields that appear to be completely isolated from each other but have deep connections.
Wang, Ping
5256bf1d-c73b-47ae-875c-b1a8e5c95175
Nagaraja, Shishir
c4a0daca-7db9-4d33-b8e2-5e0b8f5fb02c
Bourquard, Aurélien
375041b1-655a-47b5-a8d4-6c3b7f476c2b
Gao, Haichang
ca792d28-9307-46a6-ae7e-29b439d200cc
Yan, Jeff
a2c03187-3722-46c8-b73b-439eb9d1a10e
Wang, Ping
5256bf1d-c73b-47ae-875c-b1a8e5c95175
Nagaraja, Shishir
c4a0daca-7db9-4d33-b8e2-5e0b8f5fb02c
Bourquard, Aurélien
375041b1-655a-47b5-a8d4-6c3b7f476c2b
Gao, Haichang
ca792d28-9307-46a6-ae7e-29b439d200cc
Yan, Jeff
a2c03187-3722-46c8-b73b-439eb9d1a10e
Wang, Ping, Nagaraja, Shishir, Bourquard, Aurélien, Gao, Haichang and Yan, Jeff
(2025)
SoK: Acoustic Side Channels.
ACM Computing Surveys.
(doi:10.1145/3778350).
Abstract
Acoustic side channels (ASCs) have been discovered for several decades, highlighting the tangible security risks posed by unintended sound emissions from computing and electronic systems. Their existence has drawn considerable attention from researchers, driving rapid progress in both attack methodologies and defense mechanisms across a wide range of scenarios. In this paper, we provide a state-of-the-art analysis of ASCs, covering all the significant academic research in the area. First, we clarify existing ambiguities and conceptual confusion, proposing a clear definition of ASC. Second, we analyse the characteristics of known ASCs, discuss their security implications, and propose the first taxonomy. Next, we summarise attack techniques, discuss countermeasures, and identify areas for future research. We also link side channels and inverse problems, two fields that appear to be completely isolated from each other but have deep connections.
Text
SoK__Acoustic_Side_Channels__ACM_CSUR___Rev2__final__(3)
- Accepted Manuscript
Text
3778350
- Accepted Manuscript
More information
Accepted/In Press date: 7 November 2025
e-pub ahead of print date: 23 November 2025
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 507524
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/507524
ISSN: 0360-0300
PURE UUID: 27067833-b92b-4922-ac9f-7f0e473fd595
Catalogue record
Date deposited: 10 Dec 2025 18:08
Last modified: 10 Dec 2025 18:08
Export record
Altmetrics
Contributors
Author:
Ping Wang
Author:
Shishir Nagaraja
Author:
Aurélien Bourquard
Author:
Haichang Gao
Author:
Jeff Yan
Download statistics
Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.
View more statistics