Reboot Attack

Definitions

1. An attack that takes advantage of system restart behavior or residual state during or after reboot, such as cold-boot memory recovery or bypassing protections that are weaker early in startup. Reboot attacks matter when secrets, boot trust, or physical access assumptions break down around restart events.

   In plain English: An attack that exploits what happens during or immediately after a system restart.

   Example: "The lab reproduced a reboot attack by cutting power and quickly imaging residual memory contents before the DRAM state fully decayed."

Related Terms

• Air Gap
• Shoulder Surfing
• Dumpster Diving
• Electromagnetic Emanation
• Counter-Surveillance
• Data Center Security
• Juice Jacking
• Physical Penetration Test