This below linked article is concerning a newer form of data remanence. DRAM remanence, or data random access memory remanence, is an up and coming way to access data, specifically encryption keys that may be sitting in DRAM even after a reboot. According to Michael Cobb, this problem has been around for some time, but due to lack of hacker cooperation to publicly blog about their encounters, there is little know about the level of sophistication of this type of attack. What we do know is how to try to prevent this sort of attack. Cobb recommends to first and for most to maintain physical security, as slacked physical security posture, as of now, is how the attack is carried out. This attack can be accomplished by the attacker selecting a target host that has either left their workstation unlocked, or in a hibernating or standby mode, thus allowing the attacker to boot up with a USB stick or live CD, thus potentially compromising encryption keys or other valuable data stored in DRAM. I found this article interesting because of the lack “the knowns” about this sort of attack. Also, I chose this article because of the method of attack not being carried out like typical attacks we have studied this semester, via the web.
Reference: http://searchsecurity.techtarget.com.au/articles/25842-What-is-DRAM-remanence-and-can-it-undermine-your-encryption-key-management-strategies-?topic_id=178
