I was wondering when a reporter would uncover this.
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It's not just the FBI, btw - MS accepts valid law enforcement request internationally. Also it's not just BitLocker.
@GossiTheDog Unfortunately, not *just* valid ones.
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I was wondering when a reporter would uncover this.
So BitLocker is super secure, right? Well... BitLocker recovery keys are backed up to Microsoft's Cloud - and they give them out to law enforcement on request. Using the BitLocker recovery key, you can just unlock the device without a PIN etc.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2026/01/22/microsoft-gave-fbi-keys-to-unlock-bitlocker-encrypted-data/@GossiTheDog given the current climate, this is sketchy as hell
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I was wondering when a reporter would uncover this.
So BitLocker is super secure, right? Well... BitLocker recovery keys are backed up to Microsoft's Cloud - and they give them out to law enforcement on request. Using the BitLocker recovery key, you can just unlock the device without a PIN etc.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2026/01/22/microsoft-gave-fbi-keys-to-unlock-bitlocker-encrypted-data/@GossiTheDog Yep. Which is why I don't have a Microsoft account, don't back up recovery keys to the cloud, or use BitLocker in the first place.
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I was wondering when a reporter would uncover this.
So BitLocker is super secure, right? Well... BitLocker recovery keys are backed up to Microsoft's Cloud - and they give them out to law enforcement on request. Using the BitLocker recovery key, you can just unlock the device without a PIN etc.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2026/01/22/microsoft-gave-fbi-keys-to-unlock-bitlocker-encrypted-data/@GossiTheDog
Bitlocker is only to guarantee that Microsoft's beak gets wet every time your data is stolen. To who is this news? Its been clear for years, great job "Forbes". Where news goes to get lobotomized...One must be an utter buffoon with what we know today, to think Microsoft in any way has aligned interests with users. They don't.
MS has already betrayed you. They are not your friend.
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I was wondering when a reporter would uncover this.
So BitLocker is super secure, right? Well... BitLocker recovery keys are backed up to Microsoft's Cloud - and they give them out to law enforcement on request. Using the BitLocker recovery key, you can just unlock the device without a PIN etc.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2026/01/22/microsoft-gave-fbi-keys-to-unlock-bitlocker-encrypted-data/@GossiTheDog bitlocker in all enterprise implementations I have seen always felt more like security theatre than actual security. Sure it was gonna keep a thief of opportunity out of your files, but anyone with more resources could get around it
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@Infoseepage @GossiTheDog but Microslop says it "does not provide any government with our encryption keys or the ability to break our encryption". https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/corporate-responsibility/reports/government-requests/customer-data
(And they seem to have stopped publishing the reports after the Orange Menace barged into office)...@jt_rebelo @Infoseepage @GossiTheDog it's important to note that the objection here is that users should not be encouraged to store their own encryption keys on a service provider, as that provider has a responsibility to comply with legal search warrants wherever it does business. Microsoft does not "directly" give anyone keys to data without such a warrant as a matter of policy.
@GossiTheDog is correct to argue that a) it shouldn't be made easy to default to the cloud and b) that ultimately, if you mean to encrypt then you likely mean to own those keys yourself. Don't put them in a service that must respond to legal instruments.
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@jt_rebelo @Infoseepage @GossiTheDog it's important to note that the objection here is that users should not be encouraged to store their own encryption keys on a service provider, as that provider has a responsibility to comply with legal search warrants wherever it does business. Microsoft does not "directly" give anyone keys to data without such a warrant as a matter of policy.
@GossiTheDog is correct to argue that a) it shouldn't be made easy to default to the cloud and b) that ultimately, if you mean to encrypt then you likely mean to own those keys yourself. Don't put them in a service that must respond to legal instruments.
@jt_rebelo @Infoseepage @GossiTheDog the default for storing such things would be an encrypted version, per the Apple option.
We have no knowledge whether Apple or Google have ever given something out. I would not take that for a denial that they had.
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I was wondering when a reporter would uncover this.
So BitLocker is super secure, right? Well... BitLocker recovery keys are backed up to Microsoft's Cloud - and they give them out to law enforcement on request. Using the BitLocker recovery key, you can just unlock the device without a PIN etc.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2026/01/22/microsoft-gave-fbi-keys-to-unlock-bitlocker-encrypted-data/@GossiTheDog Several concerns added up to make me leave M$ last year. Good decision.
Happy and free, this is no concern of mine, and I will just enjoy the afternoon sun. Microsoft is history.
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I was wondering when a reporter would uncover this.
So BitLocker is super secure, right? Well... BitLocker recovery keys are backed up to Microsoft's Cloud - and they give them out to law enforcement on request. Using the BitLocker recovery key, you can just unlock the device without a PIN etc.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2026/01/22/microsoft-gave-fbi-keys-to-unlock-bitlocker-encrypted-data/@GossiTheDog@cyberplace.social don't keep your password on some server. always use a notebook if you can
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@jt_rebelo @Infoseepage @GossiTheDog the default for storing such things would be an encrypted version, per the Apple option.
We have no knowledge whether Apple or Google have ever given something out. I would not take that for a denial that they had.
@squillace well, it's part of how Windows works with Microsoft (online) accounts at least since Windows 8.1 (I had to recover an encryption key to help someone reset their Surface device and I got it through their user account, a Microslop support rep back then told me that they couldn't help if there wasn't a cloud backup, the key wasn't accessible to the user without it). So users don't really have a choice in the matter (no access to key at all, or have it on Microslop's cloud).
@Infoseepage @GossiTheDog -
I was wondering when a reporter would uncover this.
So BitLocker is super secure, right? Well... BitLocker recovery keys are backed up to Microsoft's Cloud - and they give them out to law enforcement on request. Using the BitLocker recovery key, you can just unlock the device without a PIN etc.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2026/01/22/microsoft-gave-fbi-keys-to-unlock-bitlocker-encrypted-data/@GossiTheDog I don’t understand putting your trust in black box proprietary encryption software when TrueCrypt/VeraCrypt exist and are older than BitLocker by 3 years, stupid doesn’t even begin to describe it.
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It's not just the FBI, btw - MS accepts valid law enforcement request internationally. Also it's not just BitLocker.
@GossiTheDog yes true
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I was wondering when a reporter would uncover this.
So BitLocker is super secure, right? Well... BitLocker recovery keys are backed up to Microsoft's Cloud - and they give them out to law enforcement on request. Using the BitLocker recovery key, you can just unlock the device without a PIN etc.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2026/01/22/microsoft-gave-fbi-keys-to-unlock-bitlocker-encrypted-data/@GossiTheDog am I a Luddite if I mention that paper can get tossed into a fireplace or shredded?
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I was wondering when a reporter would uncover this.
So BitLocker is super secure, right? Well... BitLocker recovery keys are backed up to Microsoft's Cloud - and they give them out to law enforcement on request. Using the BitLocker recovery key, you can just unlock the device without a PIN etc.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2026/01/22/microsoft-gave-fbi-keys-to-unlock-bitlocker-encrypted-data/@GossiTheDog there's no secure in slop. Never has been.
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I was wondering when a reporter would uncover this.
So BitLocker is super secure, right? Well... BitLocker recovery keys are backed up to Microsoft's Cloud - and they give them out to law enforcement on request. Using the BitLocker recovery key, you can just unlock the device without a PIN etc.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2026/01/22/microsoft-gave-fbi-keys-to-unlock-bitlocker-encrypted-data/@GossiTheDog Never, ever trust any company to secure your secrets. Use local storage like Proton to keep it on your own devices, under your own control
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I was wondering when a reporter would uncover this.
So BitLocker is super secure, right? Well... BitLocker recovery keys are backed up to Microsoft's Cloud - and they give them out to law enforcement on request. Using the BitLocker recovery key, you can just unlock the device without a PIN etc.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2026/01/22/microsoft-gave-fbi-keys-to-unlock-bitlocker-encrypted-data/@GossiTheDog That's not encryption, that's just a password with extra steps.
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I was wondering when a reporter would uncover this.
So BitLocker is super secure, right? Well... BitLocker recovery keys are backed up to Microsoft's Cloud - and they give them out to law enforcement on request. Using the BitLocker recovery key, you can just unlock the device without a PIN etc.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2026/01/22/microsoft-gave-fbi-keys-to-unlock-bitlocker-encrypted-data/@GossiTheDog I was already in the process of getting everything Microsoft dragged up to its cloud out. Dropbox is finally killed off, and as much of Google as I can, but they don't make it easy.
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@GossiTheDog I don’t understand putting your trust in black box proprietary encryption software when TrueCrypt/VeraCrypt exist and are older than BitLocker by 3 years, stupid doesn’t even begin to describe it.
@gsprs @GossiTheDog last time I set up a Win11 machine a year and a half ago, it was obligatory to use an account (they had blocked all the workarounds at the time) - and BitLocker was automatically activated. Not sure it's even easy to deactivate that and use VeraCrypt instead, now.
On my previous Win11 machine, I was able to bypass using an account and BitLocker was not provided. In that case I found I could put a firmware lock on the drive - good enough for my purposes.
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@GossiTheDog Yep. Which is why I don't have a Microsoft account, don't back up recovery keys to the cloud, or use BitLocker in the first place.
@bontchev @GossiTheDog which is why I don't have a Microsoft operating system
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I was wondering when a reporter would uncover this.
So BitLocker is super secure, right? Well... BitLocker recovery keys are backed up to Microsoft's Cloud - and they give them out to law enforcement on request. Using the BitLocker recovery key, you can just unlock the device without a PIN etc.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2026/01/22/microsoft-gave-fbi-keys-to-unlock-bitlocker-encrypted-data/@GossiTheDog "so bitlocker is super secure, right?"
yeah, that's what i thought too, until a few years ago, when most of windows boot environment bugs i found came with bitlocker key dumping or derivation as a side effect
there's more default settings than just that that leads to a less secure configuration
