Prudent use of Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM) cells in security sensitive applications

动态随机存取存储器(DRAM)是现代移动、平板电脑、笔记本电脑和台式计算机系统中用于易失性、低延迟存储的主要技术。可以影响这种正确功能的DRAM的属性之一与其剩磁有关-在DRAM不再具有电源之后，DRAM的各个单元将存储在其中的数据保留相对较长的一段时间。先前的研究表明，使用目前的DRAM技术，即使在DRAM断电几分钟后，大约50%的单元中的数据也可以可靠地恢复。这对安全性产生了负面影响--许多应用程序依赖于DRAM单元的假定易失性来保密数据。在这个项目中，我们建议研究和加深对剩磁特性的理解，并利用这种理解为安全敏感应用开发中间件解决方案，以便谨慎地使用DRAM单元，从而使数据保持机密，就像此类应用所希望的那样。这项研究是与一家加拿大公司合作的，将培训HQP，因此对加拿大来说是有价值的。

Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM) is a dominant technology for volatile, low-latency storage in modern mobile, tablet, laptop and desktop computer systems. One of the properties of DRAMs that can affect such correct functioning regards its remanence - individual cells of the DRAM retain the data that is stored in them for relatively long periods of time after the DRAM no longer has a source of power. Prior research has shown that with present-day DRAM technology, the data in about 50% of the cells can be reliably recovered even minutes after the DRAM has lost power. This negatively impacts security - many applications rely on the presumed volatility of DRAM cells to keep data secret. In this project, we propose to study and develop a deeper understanding of the characteristics of remanence, and to leverage this understanding to develop middleware solutions for security sensitive applications to use DRAM cells prudently so that data remains secret as such applications intend. The research is in collaboration with a Canadian company and will train HQP, and is therefore of value to Canada.