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What a slap to the faces of everyone who had been locked out of their data because they never knew about this crap and thus never saved their keys
Except their keys were saved but microsoft deemed that they cant "prove ownership" of the microsoft account, because they lack the credentials...
People called me paranoid when I said this would happen someday...
if theres money to be made it will happen one day
What does Microsoft think the fucking point of encryption is? Do they think I am encrypting my data to protect it from my dog?
i saw your dog using arch linux
btw……
Don't be silly, the dog uses Puppy Linux.
Mines uses Yellow Dog Linux.
As someone who used windows for way too long: they just simply don't give a shit. Like at all
If you're not the only one with the keys, is it really encrypted?
Why do you think the encryption capabilities on your PC are there for your sake? They might have sold them to you on that, but they are really there to protect copyright data because TPM allows encryption/decryption that is completely hidden from the rest of your system. Like an encrypted handshake that then transfers an encrypted key to decrypt the video stream. But it doesn't save the decrypted data, it immediately re-encrypts it using your display's private key (or whatever device is next in the chain, maybe your GPU). They can make it so that the unencrypted stream never touches your RAM or travels on any wire, which means you can't pirate shows as you watch them unless you point a camera at your screen.
Obviously if they just said that was one of the main points, no one would want it and media companies couldn't benefit from it because they'd have to compromise to sell content.
The other point was so that they could build a system where they hold the encryption keys and get to choose whose data is actually private. Obviously that's an even harder sell.
So they did what marketers always do and lied by omission about what it was for and just outright lied if they ever said they'd never give the keys to law enforcement (did they ever even say that?).
Let go of the idea that someone selling something to you implies any kind of loyalty, especially when either party is a large corporation.
Why is anyone surprised by this? And what kind of imbecile commits crimes and uses windows? 🤣
Not just that but also uploads a copy of the key to their Microsoft Account...
Many modern Windows computers rely on full-disk encryption, called BitLocker, which is enabled by default. This type of technology should prevent anyone except the device owner from accessing the data if the computer is locked and powered off. But, by default, BitLocker recovery keys are uploaded to Microsoft’s cloud, allowing the tech giant — and by extension law enforcement — to access them and use them to decrypt drives encrypted with BitLocker, as with the case reported by Forbes.
uploads a copy of the key to their Microsoft Account
Microsoft added that feature because people kept losing their encryption keys and thus losing all their files if they need to have their computer replaced. They get complaints either way - privacy advocates complain when the key is backed up, and sysadmins/users complain when the key isn't backed up.
I think in cases like this, I'd rather the responsibility of burden be shifted towards individuals with autonomy than to large corporations. But I suppose in that case (reductionism warning) people might as well just use Linux.
Didn't Osama bin Laden use Windows? 😂
Now I'm curious about that, haha!
After Bin Laden was killed, the CIA released the contents of his hard drive. Index can be found here. Search for "Windows" and you'll find multiple system files, drivers, etc.
Is anyone shocked by this? With everything that DHS, FBI, ICE, military, elected representatives, etc. are all doing without any concern or care for laws, civil rights, human rights, the Constitution, this should not be a shock to anyone. Corporations are bending over backwards to appease the talking orange and make more money. They do not care as long as profits are up and the shareholders are happy. A companies primary legal responsibility is to the shareholders, not the customers.
+100. People forget, or chose not to pay attention to the fact that Google sensor vault data was key evidence in convicting the January 6 insurrectionists (who were exonerated to become ICE). Surveillance capitalism doesn't care which side you are on.
Small correction. They were not exonerated. They were pardoned. A pardon implicitly means guilt. Exonerated means their conviction was overturned.
Agreed. Wrong word choice. And its an important, major correction. Not a small one. :-)
Amazing how every time you think they've finally stopped digging.. they whip out the steam shovel and go "Hey y'all, watch this!"
So, this means Microsoft has copies of every single bitlocker key, meaning that a bad actor could obtain them... Thereby making bitlocker less than worthless, it's an active threat.
MS really speedrunning worst possible software timeline
They don't have a copy of every single Bitlocker key. They do have a copy of your Bitlocker key if you are dumb enough to allow it to sync with your Microsoft account, you know, "for convenience."
Don't use a Microsoft account with Windows, even if you are forced to use Windows.
To use Windows without a Microsoft account requires tech literacy these days, I thought. I would not be suprised if users didn't choose to sync with a MS account but it's doing it anyway, if that's what MS want.
Just as I expected how security in Microsoft products works.
Microslop's OS is evidently untrustworthy and should not be used. I recommend replacing it with a Linux distribution.
People will still use it all the same though lol
People are creatures of habit, whereas fortune favors the bold.
The word "Gave" is really doing some heavy lifting in that title. Microsoft produced the keys in response to a warrant as required by law.
If you don't want a company, any company, to produce your data when given a warrant then you can't give the company that data. At all. Ever.
Not fast food joints, not Uber, not YouTube, not even the grocery store.
If you can't possess the keys, you can't give them when there's a warrant. Microsoft designed a system that could obtain and decrypt those keys on purpose.
Yes. But this completely invalidates the encryption. If anyone can decrypt your data without you giving the keys to them, it is not really encrypted.
Federal investigators in Guam believed the devices held evidence that would help prove individuals handling the island’s Covid unemployment assistance program were part of a plot to steal funds.
Damn, they weren't even doing this to go after pedos.
I'm curious where in the economic ladder this person fell. Rich enough to get a significant amount of money from the system, but still too poor to make the government look the other way.
Daily reminder that verified boot is objectively superior to "secure boot", once again a common Linux W and another example of Google actually promoting some good security practices
Well, storing the key in the specific provider‘s cloud isn‘t a good idea anyway - the same counts for iCloud as well. There are things that should be separated from each other because of reasons, this one is just another proof for the need to do so.
Well, since you don't actually enter a password to decrypt a bitlocker device, you can intercept the key data with physical connectors to the TPM
Bitlocker just makes it slightly more tedious to retrieve data. As long as you have all other components intact aswell.
I'm just wondering how many devices still use dedicated TPMs, instead of the ones integrated in the SoC by AMD and Intel. Sniffing a bus inside the SoC must be significantly harder or impossible.
Wasn't this by design? Otherwise why keeping the decryption keys on servers located in the united states'?