A group of researches at Princeton University recently performed an experiment using a keyboard clearner turning the can upside down and spraying the contents on to the RAM of a laptop that froze the chip physically and froze the memory as it it were encased in ice. The experiment in conjunction with a python script resulted in the harvesting of secret keys stored in RAM used to access the laptop that had whole disk encryption applied. A very interesting experiment indeed and one that needs to be asked of whole-disk/removable media encryption vendors – how do you protect against such activity which takes minutes to execute? I don’t need to break any encryption, I can just steal the key. And I thought kids did funny things with aerosol cans …https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDaicPIgn9U https://citp.princeton.edu/memory/ Related content opinion The Sandbox - RSA Conference 2014 - San Francisco By Jeff Bardin Feb 24, 2014 3 mins Technology Industry IT Leadership opinion NY Times Story on Snowden Way Off the Mark Snowden story worthless - Basic IT protocols ignored - By Jeff Bardin Jul 05, 2013 2 mins Data and Information Security Network Security opinion Maskirovka – Tactical, Operational, Strategic Deception "The Op is in Motion" By Jeff Bardin Apr 29, 2013 4 mins Physical Security IT Leadership opinion Is this gun smoking? Certified Unethical Training http://attrition.org/errata/charlatan/ec-council/eccouncil_emails.html By Jeff Bardin Mar 15, 2013 14 mins Social Engineering IT Leadership Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe