Originally Posted by ScottC
The whole research paper makes no sense to me. Why bother freezing the ram and removing it to access the key to a file that is currently already loaded and unlocked?
That's true if the computer is running and you have access to it. But what about case where the files or drive is unlocked (i.e. encryption key in memory), but the computer OS is locked (i.e. you need to log in)? In that case you either have to defeat, say, Windows' log-in, or you can pull the RAM and get the encryption key.
The purpose of the paper was that most people probably assumed that if they were using drive encryption on their computers, their computers were protected. The business traveler carrying his laptop around in standby probably thinks that he's protected by drive encryption if his laptop is lost or stolen, but this demonstrates that he's not: even if they can't defeat his log-in, they can get his drive encryption key right out of RAM.
Originally Posted by
UAVirgin
I think this really could force company's that encrypt their desktop machines HDD to rethink their security models. If the desktops are always plugged in and on and the encrypted HDD my not be as secure as they think.
At night, they could just enforce a policy that requires computers to be shut-down (or hibernated). They could install software to mandate this, as some organizations do.
Originally Posted by Abadeea
What you must note is that even if it could be done, it would not be as simple or successfully easy as they wanted to show in the video.
Well, it's as easy as the video if you have the software the research team wrote or similar.
In any event, as with all security, you need to consider who you're trying to defend against. If you assume that your adversary will be completely unsophisticated, then even a basic encryption regime is probably overkill. Of course, you don't always know who you're up against.
Originally Posted by
sbm12
I strongly believe that this is a non-issue for all but the most paranoid computer owners or the most aggresive and motivated hackers. Still, it made for a great research article.
It's also easy enough to work around - don't leave your computer on or in standby when it's not in use (or sufficiently secure). In that case, unless your adversary hits you over the head with a brick and absconds with your laptop, your data is secure.