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Mitigating Compromising Electromagnetic Emanations in Tempest-Compliant Equipment Design: a Review of Standards, Certification, and Engineering Countermeasures Cover

Mitigating Compromising Electromagnetic Emanations in Tempest-Compliant Equipment Design: a Review of Standards, Certification, and Engineering Countermeasures

Open Access
|Mar 2026

Abstract

Compromising electromagnetic emanations (CEME) represent a practical side-channel through which information processed by electronic equipment may be inferred from unintended radiated or conducted emissions. Modern digital systems—characterized by dense interconnections, switching power converters, and high-speed I/O—create a broad spectrum of emission mechanisms that are difficult to predict and control late in the design cycle. This paper provides an engineering review of the TEMPEST threat model, the standards and certification ecosystem used in governmental environments, and countermeasures spanning architecture, layout, shielding, bonding and grounding, and filtering. Emphasis is placed on mapping mitigation strategies to dominant coupling paths through zoning, RED/BLACK separation, and interface hardening. A practical verification workflow is proposed to link early design decisions to test evidence.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/sbeef-2025-0016 | Journal eISSN: 2286-2455 | Journal ISSN: 1843-6188
Language: English
Page range: 16 - 23
Published on: Mar 3, 2026
In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services
Publication frequency: 2 issues per year

© 2026 Ciprian-Iulian Talîmbă-Mengu, Marilena Stănculescu, Emil Cazacu, Mihai Maricaru, Horia Andrei, published by Valahia University of Targoviste
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.