Abstract: This document discloses techniques, apparatuses, and systems for sparse encodings for control signals. Integrated circuits (ICs) may transmit various signals to manage interactions between circuit components of the IC. These critical signals are common targets for malicious attacks because, when altered, they can cause the IC to perform differently than is intended, and in some cases, bypass security measures. To protect against these attacks, the sparse encodings for control signals described herein transmit critical signals with sparse encodings. Further, multiple rails may be used to transmit a single bit of the sparsely encoded critical signals across each rail. In this way, the techniques described herein may provide a scalable solution that may be adjusted differently based on each implementation.