Scientists have shown that it is possible to recover the key that unscrambles data from a PC's memory.It was previously thought that data held in so-called "volatile memory" was only retained for a few seconds after the machine was switched off. But the team found that data including encryption keys could be held and retrieved for up to several minutes.
"The real worry is that someone will get hold of your laptop either while it is turned on or while it is in sleeping or hibernation mode," said research scientist Professor Felten.
