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It's pretty common for law enforcement to quickly freeze RAM when busting hackers. I've definitely read of cases where suspects encryption keys were pulled from

It's pretty common for law enforcement to quickly freeze RAM when busting hackers. I've definitely read of cases where suspects encryption keys were pulled from RAM using exactly this method. The killcord would have been useful for Ross Ulbricht (Silk Road) who was busted by the FBI after using his laptop in public - they grabbed it while he had it unlocked and didn't have time to put it in suspend.

ryanlol 7y ago
> It's pretty common for law enforcement to quickly freeze RAM when busting hackers I’d really love a citation on this, especially since “quickly” seems to imply that they’d do this out in the field.
- tgsovlerkhgsel 7y ago
  If you can't prevent the device from powering down, you have less than a minute to freeze the RAM before the contents become useless. This can be done with a can of cold spray. No idea how long you have to power it back on afterwards, tens of minutes to a couple of hours probably. That said, the proper "kill switch" operation would be to explicitly wipe the key from memory before powering off (if you want to power off instead of just locking).
  - catalogia 7y ago
    > you have less than a minute to freeze the RAM before the contents become useless. This can be done with a can of cold spray. I wonder what their approach to a laptop with poor serviceability would be. I think it would take me more than a minute to get physical access to the ram of some modern computers.
    - shakna 7y ago
      > I think it would take me more than a minute to get physical access to the ram of some modern computers. RAM is still one of the most accessible parts for most laptops & desktops. Tablets and phones on the other hand make it much much harder.
    - maxander 7y ago
      That’s because you’re concerned with the laptop still being usable afterwards. :)
nodesocket 7y ago
> Ross Ulbricht (Silk Road) who was busted by the FBI after using his laptop in public - they grabbed it while he had it unlocked and didn't have time to put it in suspend. That’s pretty smart by the FBI agents to wait until it was unlocked and sneak up and take it. If instead they stormed in guns drawn, all Ross had to do was close the lid and bye bye evidence.

ryanlol 7y ago

> It's pretty common for law enforcement to quickly freeze RAM when busting hackers I’d really love a citation on this, especially since “quickly” seems to imply that they’d do this out in the field.

tgsovlerkhgsel 7y ago
If you can't prevent the device from powering down, you have less than a minute to freeze the RAM before the contents become useless. This can be done with a can of cold spray. No idea how long you have to power it back on afterwards, tens of minutes to a couple of hours probably. That said, the proper "kill switch" operation would be to explicitly wipe the key from memory before powering off (if you want to power off instead of just locking).
- catalogia 7y ago
  > you have less than a minute to freeze the RAM before the contents become useless. This can be done with a can of cold spray. I wonder what their approach to a laptop with poor serviceability would be. I think it would take me more than a minute to get physical access to the ram of some modern computers.
  - shakna 7y ago
    > I think it would take me more than a minute to get physical access to the ram of some modern computers. RAM is still one of the most accessible parts for most laptops & desktops. Tablets and phones on the other hand make it much much harder.
  - maxander 7y ago
    That’s because you’re concerned with the laptop still being usable afterwards. :)

nodesocket 7y ago

> Ross Ulbricht (Silk Road) who was busted by the FBI after using his laptop in public - they grabbed it while he had it unlocked and didn't have time to put it in suspend. That’s pretty smart by the FBI agents to wait until it was unlocked and sneak up and take it. If instead they stormed in guns drawn, all Ross had to do was close the lid and bye bye evidence.