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[[!meta title="Protection against cold boot attacks"]]
While using a computer, all the data manipulated is written temporarily in [[!wikipedia Random-access_memory desc="RAM"]]: texts, saved files, but also passwords and encryption keys. The more recent the activity, the more likely it is for the data to still be in RAM.
After a computer is powered off, the data in RAM disappears rapidly, but it can remain in RAM up to several minutes after shutdown. An attacker having access to a computer before the data in RAM disappears completely could recover important data from your session.
This can be achieved using a technique called [[!wikipedia cold boot attack]]. To prevent such attacks, the data in RAM is overwritten by random data when you shut down Tails.
Moreover, an attacker having physical access to the computer *while Tails is running* can recover data from RAM as well. To avoid that, learn the different methods to [[shutdown Tails|doc/first_steps/shutdown]] rapidly.
<div class="attack">
<p>As far as we know, cold boot attacks are not a common procedure for
data recovery.</p>
<p>In a <a
href="https://www.forensicfocus.com/stable/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/cold_boot_attack_for_forensiscs1.pdf">research
report from 2011</a>, Defense Research and Development Canada concluded that
cold boot attacks can be useful in some cases to acquire data in memory but are
not a panacea and have many drawbacks dictated by the laws of physics, which
cannot be overcome by the technique. The authors recommend to only use cold
boot attacks as a last resort when all other avenues have been exhausted.</p>
</div>
<div class="next">
<p>See how we implement this [[memory
erasure|contribute/design/memory_erasure]], for example, if you want to
implement this feature outside of Tails.</p>

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After a computer is powered off, the data in RAM disappears rapidly, but it can remain in RAM up to several minutes after shutdown. An attacker having access to a computer before the data in RAM disappears completely could recover important data from your session.
02/27/2024
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02/27/2024
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02/27/2024
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