A storage element that is operable based on a system clock signal, the storage element including a clock gating circuitry configured to generate a gated clock signal based on at least one Boolean signal and the system clock signal or a preprocessed system clock signal, wherein the clock gating circuitry comprises physical connections of small capacitance such that tapping of at least one of the physical connections results in a hold-time violation. Also, a hardware-based cryptography accelerator or a secured processing system including at least one such storage element, and a method for operating at least one storage element.