Thursday, August 20, 2009

[ezwedjku] RAM persists

Thwarting Halderman el al., "Lest We Remember: Cold Boot Attacks on Encryption Keys"

The data in RAM is stored encrypted with the key held in a register on the RAM chip, RAM module, or CPU. In the event of power loss, a small amount of power storage, perhaps a capacitor, is used to wipe the key register. Alternatively, the entire RAM may be wiped on power loss, but that seems hard.

The RAM must be mounted so it cannot be removed without cutting power. Connections are underneath.

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