BitLocker Question

Question

Hello,

I understand BitLocker encrypts the data on your hard drive.  My questions is: ig someone hack's your laptop will they be able to access your files/data?

A scenario would be when using the laptop over public wi-fi WITH a quality VPN enabled.

BitLocker appears to be similar to encrypting an iPad in that a non-authorized person might be able to access the iPad but not obtain the data on it.(?)(?)

Thanks!

Answer 1

Hello InquisitiveMind3,

BitLocker Drive Encryption is a data protection feature that integrates with the operating system and addresses the threats of data theft or exposure from lost, stolen, or inappropriately decommissioned computers.

BitLocker provides the most protection when used with a Trusted Platform Module (TPM) version 1.2 or later. The TPM is a hardware component installed in many newer computers by the computer manufacturers. It works with BitLocker to help protect user data and to ensure that a computer has not been tampered with while the system was offline.

On computers that do not have a TPM version 1.2 or later, you can still use BitLocker to encrypt the Windows operating system drive. However, this implementation will require the user to insert a USB startup key to start the computer or resume from hibernation. Starting with Windows 8, you can use an operating system volume password to protect the operating system volume on a computer without TPM. Both options do not provide the pre-startup system integrity verification offered by BitLocker with a TPM.

Most operating systems use a shared memory space and rely on the operating system to manage physical memory. A TPM is a hardware component that uses its own internal firmware and logic circuits for processing instructions, thus shielding it from external software vulnerabilities. Attacking the TPM requires physical access to the computer. Additionally, the tools and skills necessary to attack hardware are often more expensive, and usually are not as available as the ones used to attack software. And because each TPM is unique to the computer that contains it, attacking multiple TPM computers would be difficult and time-consuming.

The recommended practice for BitLocker configuration on an operating system drive is to implement BitLocker on a computer with a TPM version 1.2 or higher and a Trusted Computing Group (TCG)-compliant BIOS or UEFI firmware implementation, plus a PIN. By requiring a PIN that was set by the user in addition to the TPM validation, a malicious user that has physical access to the computer cannot simply start the computer

Since you're using VPN, all your internet traffic is sent from your device through an encrypted tunnel to the provider's endpoint. With this, the traffic is secure fro many local eavesdropper on the public Wi-Fi network. Bitlocker is not easy to hack at all, it uses a hardware key protection and if they guess a password, then the hardware locks you out.

For more in-depth assistance, you can also post your questions in our TechNet forums, where we have support professionals who are well equipped with the knowledge on such issues.

Let me know if you have other concerns.

Regards.