Cool Crypto Attack Gives Cold Comfort

A team of academics at Princeton University, together with industry and independent researchers has demonstrated a new class of computer attacks that compromise the contents of supposedly secure memory systems, particularly in laptops. The attack exploits the relatively slow decay of memory bits (seconds to minutes) that often contain disk encryption keys. The usual decay rate can be slowed even further by spraying the RAM chips with the compressed gas in a typical can of anti-static spray. A video presentation and the research paper are available at the Princeton site.