The below linked paper shows that disk encryption, the standard approach to protecting sensitive data on laptops, can be defeated by relatively simple methods. The paper also demonstrates the methods by using them to defeat three popular disk encryption products: BitLocker, which comes with Windows Vista; FileVault, which comes with MacOS X; and dm-crypt, which is used with Linux.

http://www.securiteam.com/securityre...GP0N1FNFU.html