Researchers Steal Hard Drive Encryption Keys from Memory Modules
Category:
Memory,
Storage / Hard Drives
Posted: February 25, 2008 09:39PM
Author:
Nemo
Princeton University - It seems like a day doesn't go by without some report of critical data being lost or stolen. This is especially true for laptop computers and security experts have been encouraging the use of hard drive encryption for some time. Well, just when you thought your data were safe (cue scary music) researchers at Princeton University are reporting its possible to steal hard drive encryption keys from a computer's DRAM. Although this type of attack requires physical access to the machine which has to be running or in standby mode, it is possible to retrieve the data even after the computer has been shut down for a few seconds. This works because the data in the memory hangs around long enough for someone to boot the machine off a portable drive and read the memory. Apparently cooling the chips down to around -50 degrees Celsius can preserve the contents for longer periods, long enough to remove the memory and install it in another machine. Alex Haldeman, a graduate student who worked on the project, says the team was able to use this technique to successfully read data as long as ten minutes after power had been removed. For more information and access to videos and the original research paper be sure to click on the read link above.
