ENCRYPTION OPERATION WITH REAL DATA ROUNDS, DUMMY DATA ROUNDS, AND DELAY PERIODS.

An apparatus, method, system and computer-readable medium are provided for preserving an encryption of data when confronted by an attack, such as a side channel analysis (SCA) attack based on a statistical analysis. In some embodiments, hardware, software, and/or firmware associated with an encryption calculation may be exercised or accessed during a background operation when an actual or real operation is not taking place. During the background operation, dummy values for data and one or more keys may be input to the hardware. A switching between the real operation and the background operation may take place seamlessly such that measurement of a physical characteristic associated with the hardware is indistinguishable in terms of when the real and background operations are active. In this manner, the secrecy of a key used in connection with the real operation may be preserved.