This paper presents an efficient differential power analysis (DPA) countermeasure for the $Eta_T$ pairing algorithm over GF($2^n$). The proposed algorithm is based on a random value addition (RVA) mechanism. An RVA-based DPA countermeasure for the $Eta_T$ pairing computation over GF($3^n$) was proposed in 2008. This paper examines the security of this RVA-based DPA countermeasure and defines the design principles for making the countermeasure more secure. Finally, the paper proposes an efficient RVA-based DPA countermeasure for the secure computation of the $Eta_T$ pairing over GF($2^n$). The proposed countermeasure not only overcomes the security flaws in the previous RVAbased method but also exhibits the enhanced performance. Actually, on the 8-bit ATmega128L and 16-bit MSP430 processors, the proposed method can achieve almost 39% and 43% of performance improvements, respectively, compared with the best-known countermeasure.