# Researchers extract RSA encryption key from sound of working CPU **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 19, 2013, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/researchers-extract-rsa-encryption-key-from-sound-of-working-cpu/676692 "2013-12-19T03:46:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2013, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/researchers-extract-rsa-encryption-key-from-sound-of-working-cpu/676692/21 "2013-12-20T05:49:22Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > What this means is that, until the courts rule otherwise, the government(or anybody else with the proper equipment) can get confidential information from your supposedly encrypted files without a warrant. Eh, they still need to bug both the room where your computer is sitting, and intercept the actual encrypted files. (and get the person they’re spying on to decrypt a known file while their computer is under survillence). As a mechanism for circumventing legal requirements for a warrant, this isn’t really useful. Mainly its just kind of neat. Its insane with all the different inter-mixed processes runing on a modern computer, people can manage to extract a 1024 bit number from your computer’s memory purely by observing the drops in voltage across components. Its doubly insane that they can extract those voltage drops by the noise emitted. And its triply insane they can do so with so inexact a set-up as just putting a smartphone next to the targeted computer. Plus, I’m kind of amused to think of all the paranoids out there thinking the gov’t is spying on them will now sing commercial jingles loudly to themselves every-time they read their email. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/researchers-extract-rsa-encryption-key-from-sound-of-working-cpu/676692.md?page=1)