Next time you watch a movie where a hacker hacks into a computer by simply pluging in a small device, it might closer to the truth than you imagine. Security experts are well versed in bypassing computer security measures - even if sometimes it involves things that would deserve showing up in a movie. There are tools that allow you to disconnect a computer from the power plug without turning it off (and keeping it on while it's moved somewhere else ; and some attacks even involve using liquid nitrogen to keep the RAM data intact as it is quickly moved to another machine to be captured.
But, thing can actually be a lot simpler, as is the case of this Inception tool. All you need is a working computer (presumably showing you a logon screen with a password you don't know) with a Firewire port - and don't be put off by this, as you can easily hotplug one into a working computer using a Thunderbolt/ExpressCard/PC Card/etc. adapter.
Then, using one of the inherent features of Firewire - Direct Memory Access (DMA) - the external computer can scan through the main computer memory, locate the section that validates the password, and modify it so it grants you access no matter which password you enter.
Simple, and neat, isn't it? With Inception you can crack open: Windows 8 SP0, Windows 7 SP0-1, Vista SP0 and SP2, Windows XP SP2-3, Mac OS X Snow Leopard, Lion and Mountain Lion, Ubuntu 11.04, 11.10, 12.04, 12.10, Linux Mint 11, 12 and 13 in both 32 and 64 bits versions.
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