Cold Boot Attack
An attack that extracts sensitive data from a system's RAM after a reboot.
Understanding Cold Boot Attack
RAM temporarily holds encryption keys, passwords, and sensitive system data. Normally, data in RAM disappears when power is cut, but a Cold Boot Attack takes advantage of "data remanence", where memory contents persist for a short time, especially if cooled down. Attackers use specialized tools to retrieve and analyze the data before it fully fades.
How Cold Boot Attacks Work
Powering Off & Rebooting – The attacker forcefully restarts a machine.
Freezing RAM – Using cooling sprays or low temperatures to slow data loss.
Dumping Memory – Specialized tools extract residual data from RAM.
Extracting Sensitive Information – Attackers analyze memory dumps to recover encryption keys, passwords, or session data.
Common Applications of Cold Boot Attacks
Stealing Encryption Keys – Attackers can recover keys used in disk encryption (e.g., BitLocker, VeraCrypt).
Extracting Credentials – Sensitive login information can be retrieved from RAM.
Bypassing Security Measures – Attackers can access sensitive systems without traditional authentication.