What is BitLocker and is it safe?
BitLocker is a program included with professional versions of Window to protect your data if your computer is stolen. The program does not come with the home versions of Windows.
BitLocker will encrypt all the data (programs and documents and videos and images) using an encryption algorithm. What this means in plain English is it converts all that information to secret codes. If a person accessing your computer does not have the correct key, all the programs and files just look like junk.
You as the owner and other users you set up have a key associated with their account so the data decrypts (goes back to normal looking) automatically with no extra work on your part. It normally does this encryption and decryption efficiently so the slow- down is very slight and most people never notice.
When someone else tries to access the data on your computer, it is all junk unless they manage to get the key.
The way the key is kept is the nice part about BitLocker and also the part that is unsafe. When you choose to use BitLocker, Windows will give you a copy of the key which you need to record and keep somewhere, but not on
that PC. In addition, if you use a Microsoft account to login Windows, Microsoft will store the BitLocker key in your account at Microsoft. This is the default way now to create user accounts but some of us still use local accounts preferring Microsoft not to have our information. Now if something happens on the machine and the machine loses the key, then when you log in you will not be able to as the data stays encrypted. If you have the key, you can enter it, and all is OK. If you have a Microsoft account you can log in it on another machine, look for BitLocker folder and get the key. Now the problem: If you do not have a copy of the key or do not have a Microsoft login account or no longer have access to email account associated with that account (unless you had set up two-part authentication to phone) you will never be able to get in and see that data. The encryption uses a secure encryption, and it would be highly doubtful you could break it, no matter how good you are, so you have lost the data.
In summary BitLocker is a very good tool to protect your data on mobile computers in case of the device being stolen. However, the caveat is that you must either still know the key or have a Microsoft account with email access so you can get in if the storage device suffers some type of damage (corrupted files, etc.) or you will lose the data.
In a future article I will tell how this relates to cybercurrencies also.