TEMPEST / EMSEC: prepare your certification upstream of official testing
Reduce certification failure risk, control your timelines, harden your equipment
In the defence and sensitive information systems domain, any equipment processing classified data must demonstrate that it does not leak exploitable information through unintentional electromagnetic, electrical or acoustic emissions. This is the purpose of TEMPEST (Telecommunications Electronics Materials Protected from Emanating Spurious Transmissions) certification, governed by NATO SDIP-27 and EU IASG 7-03 standards, and non-compliance can block the operational deployment of an entire system.
Groupe Emitech offers a structured set of pre-TEMPEST services: intervening upstream of official certification testing to prepare your equipment, identify compromising emission (EMSEC) vulnerabilities, and maximise your chances of passing at the first attempt in a designated test facility.
Why choose Groupe Emitech for your TEMPEST preparation?
Groupe Emitech acts exclusively as an independent third-party service provider for your equipment. Defence prime contractors and their supply chains gain a testing partner whose findings are independent of any commercial stake in the product being tested.
World-class EMC expertise applied to emission security
TEMPEST is a specialisation of EMC applied to information security. Groupe Emitech draws on over 35 years of EMC testing experience — including in military domains (MIL-STD-461, DO-160, DEF STAN) — to deliver compromising emission measurements with the rigour and instrumentation this field demands.
Dedicated test facilities in Montigny-le-Bretonneux
- TEMPEST receivers and specialised demodulators
- Measurement antennas adapted to TEMPEST frequency ranges and emission levels
- Set of measurement accessories for conducted emissions
Which sectors are concerned?
Defence
C4ISR systems, command posts, tactical communication equipment, land, naval and airborne embedded systems.
Aerospace
Military platforms and certain government aviation programmes embed information processing systems subject to the same EMSEC requirements.
Naval
Communication and processing systems aboard surface vessels, submarines and naval platforms operating in NATO or nationally classified environments.
Space
Sovereign and intelligence space programmes integrate EMSEC requirements for ground-based or embedded processing equipment.
Beyond these sectors, any Critical Infrastructure Operator deploying processing systems in high-interception-risk environments may be subject to an EMSEC qualification process.
Understanding TEMPEST / EMSEC
All equipment processing sensitive information generates unintentional emissions — electromagnetic, conducted or acoustic — that can potentially be intercepted and exploited at distance to reconstruct classified data. These are known as compromising emanations (Compromising Emanations).
TEMPEST certification demonstrates that these emanations remain below the thresholds defined by applicable standards, across three protection levels linked to exposure zones:
| Level | NATO Standard | EU Standard | Protection Zone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Level A | SDIP-27 Level A | IASG 7-03 Level A | Zone 0 – immediate proximity (1 m) |
| Level B | SDIP-27 Level B | IASG 7-03 Level B | Zone 1 – up to 20 metres |
| Level C | SDIP-27 Level C | IASG 7-03 Level C | Zone 2 – up to 100 metres |
In France, TEMPEST certification also relies on SGDSN/ANSSI directives: Zoning Directive N°495 and Installation Directive N°485.
Failure in official TEMPEST testing can mean months of programme delay and significant rework costs. Upstream preparation is the most effective — and most cost-efficient — way to reduce that risk.
The four pillars of the Emitech offering
1. EMSEC pre-analysis — System architecture review
Before any measurement, an architecture review is conducted using your functional schematics, interfaces, power supplies and clock signals. The objective: identify risk areas and likely emission leakage paths — conducted or radiated — before the prototyping or integration phase.
This step delivers a technical note with a prioritised list of recommendations, ready to be acted upon directly by your design teams.
2. Pre-TEMPEST measurements — Know your actual margins
This is the core of the offering. Using TEMPEST receivers, demodulators, purpose-built antennas and Faraday cages with dedicated instrumentation, Emitech measures conducted and radiated emissions on the critical ports of your equipment.
Results are presented as emission trends, margins against normative thresholds and hardening recommendations. This is not a normative TEMPEST test: it is a decision-making tool that allows your team to understand their actual risk level before committing to official certification.
3. Hardening engineering — Reducing emissions at source
Based on measurement findings, Emitech supports your engineers in implementing corrective measures: shielding, filtering, PCB routing, grounding, component selection. This support is iterative: measurement and correction cycles continue until results are satisfactory relative to the target certification level.
4. Certification preparation — Maximising first-pass success
The final pillar covers technical file preparation for the designated TEMPEST laboratory, clarification of the target level (A, B or C) based on your zoning analysis, and coordination with the official test facility. Emitech can also support your teams in understanding programme-specific requirements (NATO NIAPC process, applicable ANSSI directives).
Groupe Emitech: a clear positioning, complementary to designated laboratories
Groupe Emitech intervenes upstream of official certification, as a partner to designated TEMPEST laboratories. It does not replace them: it prepares your equipment so that the certification process is controlled, optimised and successfully completed. This complementary positioning is a trust signal for defence prime contractors and their supply chains.
Needs
Discover a selection of additional resources that explore topics related to this page including regulatory contexts, technical articles, and specific areas of expertise. These materials provide further insight to help you better understand the key challenges and available solutions.
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