In computer security, a cold boot attack (or to a lesser extent, a platform reset attack) is a type of side channel attack in which an attacker with physical access to a computer performs a memory dump of a computer's random-access memory (RAM) by performing a hard reset of the target machine. Typically, cold boot attacks are used for retrieving encryption keys from a running operating system for malicious or criminal investigative reasons. The attack relies on the data remanence property of DRAM and SRAM to retrieve memory contents that remain readable in the seconds to minutes following a power switch-off.
An attacker with physical access to a running computer typically executes a cold boot attack by cold-booting the machine and booting a lightweight operating system from a removable disk to dump the contents of pre-boot physical memory to a file. An attacker is then free to analyze the data dumped from memory to find sensitive data, such as the keys, using various forms of key finding attacks. Since cold boot attacks target random-access memory, full disk encryption schemes, even with a trusted platform module installed are ineffective against this kind of attack. This is because the problem is fundamentally a hardware (insecure memory) and not a software issue. However, malicious access can be prevented by limiting physical access and using modern techniques to avoid storing sensitive data in random-access memory.
DIMM memory modules gradually lose data over time as they lose power, but do not immediately lose all data when power is lost. Depending on temperature and environmental conditions, memory modules can potentially retain at least some data for up to 90 minutes after power loss. With certain memory modules, the time window for an attack can be extended to hours or even weeks by cooling them with freeze spray. Furthermore, as the bits disappear in memory over time, they can be reconstructed, as they fade away in a predictable manner. Consequently, an attacker can perform a memory dump of its contents by executing a cold boot attack.
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Windows 8 is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft. It was released to manufacturing on August 1, 2012, and was made available for download via MSDN and TechNet on August 15, 2012. Nearly three months after its initial release, Windows 8 finally made its first retail appearance on October 26, 2012. Windows 8 is the first version of Microsoft Windows with a combination of 2D and 3D effects.
VeraCrypt is a free and open-source utility for on-the-fly encryption (OTFE). The software can create a virtual encrypted disk that works just like a regular disk but within a file. It can also encrypt a partition or (in Windows) the entire storage device with pre-boot authentication. VeraCrypt is a fork of the discontinued TrueCrypt project. It was initially released on 22 June 2013. Many security improvements have been implemented and concerns within the TrueCrypt code audits have been addressed.
Crypto-shredding is the practice of 'deleting' data by deliberately deleting or overwriting the encryption keys. This requires that the data have been encrypted. Data may be considered to exist in three states: data at rest, data in transit and data in use. General data security principles, such as in the CIA triad of confidentiality, integrity, and availability, require that all three states must be adequately protected.
Delves into SRAM fundamentals, bit cell structure, read/write operations, sizing constraints, and the impact on Moore's Law.
Explores trusted computing, confidentiality, integrity, and side-channel attacks, emphasizing real-world examples and the challenges of ensuring security.
Multiparty homomorphic encryption (MHE) enables a group of parties to encrypt data in a way that (i) enables the evaluation of functions directly over its ciphertexts and (ii) enforces a joint cryptographic access-control over the underlying data.By extend ...
EPFL2023
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In this paper, we propose Rocca-S, an authenticated encryption scheme with a 256-bit key and a 256-bit tag targeting 6G applications bootstrapped from AES. Rocca-S achieves an encryption/decryption speed of more than 200 Gbps in the latest software environ ...
When spatially shared among multiple tenants, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) are vulnerable to remote power side-channel analysis attacks. Using carefully crafted on-chip voltage sensors, adversaries can extract secrets (e.g., encryption keys or th ...