A group led by Princeton University computer shield researchers has found a startlingly simple way to breach encrypted notes — by chilling the computer memory chip that holds it. The technique only requires chilling the chip with a blast of cold air from a can of dust remover sold for a few dollars at major retailers.

that action, described by the group on the Web site of Princeton’s Center for knowledge Technology Policy (http://citp.princeton.edii/memory), takes advantage of

a vulnerability of the dynamic random access chip, which temporarily holds details, including the keys to contemporary data-scrambling algorithms. When the computer’s electrical potential is turned off, the info and the keys are supposed to vanish. However, the group’s technical paper published online explains, standard memory chips actually retain their info for seconds, even minutes, after the ability is turned off.

When the chips were chilled using a can of air, the […]

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