What is a side-channel attack? A cybersecurity researcher explains how computers can leak secrets without being hacked

Hackers don't necessarily have to break into your computer to suss out what's going on inside it. athima tongloom/Moment via Getty Images When people hear the word cyberattack, they usually imagine someone guessing a password, planting malware, stealing a computer, hacking an organization’s network or exploiting a flaw in software. A side-channel attack works differently. It looks for clues a computer gives away while doing ordinary work. A simple analogy is a locked safe. A thief may not know…