DISARM: Target Electronic Device Informed Mitigation of Software Runtime Side-Channel Vulnerabilities

Runtime side-channel attacks exploit timing differences in program execution to steal secrets like encryption keys or sensitive data. Most existing defenses try to make code execution times equal across different paths, but they don't account for the specific hardware device the program runs on, which can cause problems like unnecessary slowdowns or incomplete fixes. DISARM is a new approach that combines hardware and software knowledge by measuring actual timing on real embedded devices (small, specialized computers) to create better, more targeted fixes that work correctly across different hardware while reducing performance overhead.