Volatile memory captures

Name: Volatile memory captures
Creator: TestPattern Community
License: https://opensource.org/licenses/MIT

Identifies volatile memory captures patterns in security and access control contexts. Detects potential exposure of sensitive security information in Australian systems.

Type: regex
Engine: boost_regex
Confidence: medium
Confidence justification: structural regex with domain-specific anchors and constrained context replaces phrase-only marker.
Detection quality: Mixed
Jurisdictions: au
Regulations: Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth), Evidence Act 1977 (Qld)
Frameworks: ISO 27001
Data categories: credentials, security
Scope: wide
Platform compatibility: Purview: Compatible, GCP DLP: Compatible, Macie: Compatible, Zscaler: Compatible, Palo Alto: Degraded, Netskope: Unsupported

Pattern

(?is)\b(?:memory\s+dump|volatile\s+memory|ram\s+capture|hiberfil)\b

Corroborative evidence keywords

volatile memory captures, volatile, memory, captures, security, operations, threat, data

Proximity: 300 characters

Should match

Volatile memory captures — Exact phrase marker match
volatile memory captures — Case-insensitive phrase match
Volatile memory captures — Normalized whitespace phrase
structured sample with matching anchors — Structural anchor sample

Should not match

unrelated generic text — No relevant phrase context
placeholder value 12345 — Random text should not match phrase marker
generic policy prose without anchors — Should reject generic mentions without structural anchor terms

Known false positives

Authentication-related terminology in software documentation, security training materials, or system architecture descriptions without actual credentials. Mitigation: Require proximity to credential-specific patterns (API keys, connection strings, tokens) rather than general security terminology.
Code snippets and configuration examples containing credential-related keywords or placeholder values in developer documentation. Mitigation: Check for common placeholder patterns (example.com, localhost, 0000) and documentation file types to reduce false positives from technical writing.

References

https://www.cyber.gov.au/resources-business-and-government/essential-cyber-security/ism
https://www.legislation.gov.au/C2018A00029/latest/text
https://www.oaic.gov.au/privacy/privacy-guidance-for-organisations-and-government-agencies/preventing-preparing-for-and-responding-to-data-breaches/data-breach-preparation-and-response
https://handbook.apra.gov.au/standard/cps-234