What is the difference between protection status and lock status in BitLocker

Question

We are an MSP Auditing our managed systems and using the manage-bde -status c: powershell command to find key information.

We get that the system is encrypted but not sure what the difference is between Protection Status and Lock Status and I'm not finding anything in the documentation.

Answer 1

Hi Ronald Lewis,

In BitLocker, the protection status and lock status have different meanings:

Protection Status: This indicates whether the volume and its encryption key are secured. If the protection status is "Off," the volume is either unencrypted, partially encrypted, or the encryption key is available in the clear on the hard disk.

Lock Status: This indicates whether the volume is currently locked or unlocked. A locked volume cannot be accessed without the appropriate key or password, while an unlocked volume is accessible.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/secprov/getprotectionstatus-win32-encryptablevolume

Best Regards,

Ian Xue

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