Princeton University researchers have discovered a way to hack into encrypted data by exploiting a vulnerability in DRAM chips, reports The New York Times.

The chips hold the keys to data-scrambling algorithms, but they hold onto the data for seconds or even minutes when the power is cut off.

Chilling the chips --- the researchers used an inexpensive can of air --- keeps the data on the chips longer. And in liquid nitrogen, the chips retain the data for hours, enough time to remove them and read them on another machine.

But they also developed ways to save to the contents of memory to disk or a USB drive during a reboot and ways to unlock the data, according to Ars Technica.

Hacking into Microsoft's BitLocker took about 25 minutes, they said, adding that they were able to crack information stored on special utilities in Macintosh and Linux operating systems as well.

The researchers' paper made suggestions for improving such security, but they would make the hack more difficult, not impossible, according to the Ars Technica piece.