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Bitlocker No Real Threat To Decryption?
Posted by
Zonk
on Mon Feb 05, 2007 08:29 PM
from the keep-this-under-your-hat dept.
from the keep-this-under-your-hat dept.
An anonymous reader writes "The Register is running a story called 'Vista encryption 'no threat' to computer forensics'. The article explains that despite some initial concerns that lawbreakers would benefit from built-in strong encryption, it's unlikely the Bitlocker technology will slow down most digital forensic analysts. What kind of measures does one need to take to make sure no one but yourself has access to your data? Is Bitlocker just good enough (keeping out your siblings) or does it miss the whole purpose of the encryption entirely?" One would hope an international criminal mastermind could do better than the encryption built into Vista.
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Technology: U.S. Government Prepares For Vista 87 comments
IO ERROR writes "Patrick Svenburg, program manager for Windows Client Solutions in Microsoft Federal, answered questions from government IT managers today about the upcoming Windows Vista release. Many of the questions were about BitLocker, Microsoft's new drive encryption technology, as well as other security questions, upgrading from Windows XP, IPv6 deployment and more. Svenburg is a member of the Windows Vista Launch Team and is leading early adoption efforts for Windows Vista within the Federal community, according to Government Computer News."
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international criminal mastermind ? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:international criminal mastermind ? (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
Pinky... (Score:5, Funny)
Pinky: I think so brain, but Vista locked up and we lost all the missle launch keys we stole from the NSA.
Brain: GGGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTTTTEEEESSSS
That's not the formula! (Score:5, Funny)
Brain: Pinky, are you pondering what I'm pondering?
Pinky: I think so, Brain, but how are we going to find deep-fried pants at this hour?
Brain: I-- (sigh) just hand read me that encryption key from the screen there.
(Pinky is jumping back and forth and balancing on different pens, he falls backwards and hits the computer. Brain sighs at his own destiny of having to live with such a buffoon. Pinky dusts himself off.)
Brain: Where did you even get all those pens, anyway?
Pinky: Microsoft is giving them away! They sent ten free pens to every household in the world. (Confused) I'm not sure why, maybe because their computers are always breaking... you know, one time I was...
Brain: Nevermind that, Pinky. Just read me the encryption key from the monitor.
Pinky: What, you mean this TV doodad?
Brain: (sigh, sarcastically) Yes, Pinky. From the "TV doodad."
Pinky: Ooook, it says (pause)
Brain: Yes?
Pinky: Well that's what it says. It says (pause)
Brain: It says what, Pinky?
Pinky: Now I just told you what it says Brain, don't make me repeat myself!
Brain: (sighs, walks over to computer) What? No... No... (increasingly dismayed, anxious, ears/eyes droop down) This can't be... (Checks wires behind computer frantically)
Pinky: What's the matter, Brain? Is the TV thing gone cuckoo? I blame Rosie...
Brain: Quiet, you nitwit! I think Vista's frozen up. We've lost the encryption keys!
Pinky: Frozen Vista? Ooooooooooh what flavour is it Brain? Grape-a-melon? I loooove Grape-a-melon...
Brain: (sarcastically) Yes, Pinky, it's Grape-a-melon. (shakes head) Look, you know who's to blame for this, don't you?
Pinky: Ummmm.... The Flying Sausage People from the tea cup in outerspace?
Brain: (sigh) No, Pinky. (dramatically zooms in on his face) BILL GATES! He must've figured out we were trying to take over the world, and he wants it for himself!
Pinky: Gee, Brain, how'd you think he figured that out?
Brain: I don't know. Maybe he has a television and watches the fine Warner Brothers cartoon productions. (Pinky & Brain grin at camera)
(Commercial Break)
(Scene: Pinky and Brain riding the bus)
Pinky: Narf! Brain, where are we going again? Candycane Island?
Brain: (sigh) We're going to Redmond to find Bill Gates to steal his plan to take over the world!
Fat tourist passenger in front of them: That's funny! The wife and I are going to see their fabulous dog park!
Brain: I see. Would you excuse me a moment? (takes a magazine and makes a makeshift "wall" blocking the tourist's face from looking at him)
Pinky: (looking out window) Ooooooh, that's a big building! What's that?
Brain: (not looking) That's Microsoft Campus, and it's more than just a building--
Pinky: But what's that giant towering doodilly with the spinning whatchamacallit on top?
Brain: (looks out window) I told you, Pinky, it's-- Good Lord! Microsoft has built a mind control tower!
(Commerical Break)
(Scene: Bill Gates in Microsoft Mind Control Tower)
Gates: (Nerdish evil laugh) They said I was crazy! All those people that called me a nerd! (adjusts glasses, pocket protector) Well now we'll see who the nerd is!
Ballmer: (foaming at the mouth, shirt sweat-stained, resembling a dog more than a man) YEAH! GET 'EM BILL! GET 'EM! MAKE 'EM PAY! RRRRRRRRRRR!!! (throws chair)
(Gates looks over the control panel. There is a knob to hike the world's pants u
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Makes you feel good about Vista encryption (Score:4, Funny)
arrrrrrrrghhh (Score:5, Funny)
Do what works for pirates. Bury it.
??AA (Score:3, Funny)
I use TrueCrypt (Score:5, Insightful)
Really though, I'd say Bitlocker is probably adequate for most purposes. If you're concerned about siblings, co-workers, rival companies, etc. it will hide your data. If you're trying to hide something from legal authorities, you'd best find another way to hide your data.
Re:I use TrueCrypt (Score:4, Funny)
Are you sure you didn't run it on your post?
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Missing the point (Score:5, Insightful)
But this is the point of the article and the discussion. Law enforcement and the software vendors who supply them are making a bunch of handwaving "not a problem" noise but this just puts the question onto teh table for discussion, it doesn't even start to answer it.
The question: Is BitLocker safe for really secure work? Which breaks down to smaller questions. Even when used correctly, with a TCPM chip and a good passphrase and good logoff/umount displine is the implementation and design sound? Or is this just a FUD campaign to keep the coppers buying EnCase? Is BitLocker vulnerable to attacks that other encrption solutions would defend against?
Because while, despite the Daily Hate here on Slashdot, America isn't a police state and the innocent have little to fear from their governemt unless they are crimelords, terrorists or that most dreadful scourge, a kiddie porn fiend But that isn't much comfort for the billions of huddled masses yearning to breath free in the unfree parts of the world. PGP was a godsend to political dissidents around the world, is BitLocker a useful tool for them as well or a trojan horse to help despots fill their forced labor camps with the fools who trust it with their secrets?
Parent
Not really (Score:3, Insightful)
If you have PCs with personal data on them, you must destroy or forensically wipe the hard disks before turning them back in to the leasing company -- which is expensive because it requires manual intervention or reduces the value of the asset.
If you can count
Re:I use TrueCrypt (Score:5, Informative)
TrueCrypt [truecrypt.org] is pretty cool. In addition to making an encrypted partition/drive, you can create a file that gets mounted as a drive once you've accessed it. This is what I usually do and it's handy for using it on a USB key or if you need to send some files via email/FTP. You can also have it use one or more files for the decryption key for the volume instead of the standard text passphrase.
The GUI is quite good, lots of choices on encryption algorithms, and there's nothing cooler than using sol.exe as your decryption key
Parent
Re:I use TrueCrypt (Score:5, Informative)
FWIW here it is:
Peace for the paranoid.
If you have files on your computer that are very personal, embarrassing or plain illegal, you probably want to use encryption. There are a number of solutions out there, both free and commercial. My recommendation goes to truecrypt ( http://www.truecrypt.org/ [truecrypt.org] ) which is free, open-source and very easy to use.
Truecrypt can create a file on your computer that has to be "mounted" to a drive letter (like F:) before it can be read. It then shows up under 'my computer' much like a CD player or something, ready for use.
The file itself can be named anything and placed anywhere on your hard drive, or a CD, USB key etc. And if you analyze it without having the pass-phrase it will look like a random sting of numbers.
The default algorithm for truecrypt is AES, which the US department of defense deems strong enough even for 'top secret' documents.
How to use truecrypt is well enough described on the website. Go to http://www.truecrypt.org/docs/ [truecrypt.org] and click 'Beginner's Tutorial'.
I'd like to add some notes though:
Pick a strong password. You have up to 64 characters so use a whole sentence. A quote from a movie or a line of a song works well. If you want something shorter go for something purely random.
You can strengthen it further by using keyfiles. Any file that never changes can work as a key file. Now you adversary not only have to crack your password, but also has to know which files on your HD to give as key files.
It's overkill for most situations, but if you keep some home made MP3-files on a USB drive and use these for keys you have the dual protection of something you must have (USB key) plus something you must know (pass phrase).
If you live in a country where use of encryption is in itself illegal, or considered suspect do the following:
* Use the hidden volume feature of truecrypt. This creates two volumes baked into one, with different passwords. If you are forced to reveal the password you can give out the one to the wrong volume.
(Where you have conveniently stored some embarrassing but perfectly legal Pr0n. What if you were to die suddenly and your mom got your computer! Plausible deniability).
Another similar option, is to simply create another encrypted volume with some non-critical stuff in it. This gives you an easy out if someone asks why you are using an encryption program.
* Hide the volume file itself. Give it a name and location that is similar to a TMP or system file like 'WINDOWS/Temp/~GH7876.tmp'. Given that the file itself doesn't advertise what it is finding it becomes very very hard. Many applications dump random stuff in tmp dirs. Another nice place is hidden folders beginning with $ in the WINDOWS dir. These are uninstallers for windows update, but they are almost never used. Be creative.
I think this is better than keeping it on a separate medium like as CD (why did you burn a block of random numbers to CD, huh?). especially if you need to work on the files.
* You can use TrueCrypt in 'traveler mode' which means you don't have to install the program itself. You can keep it on a CD or something. I find this awkward though.
Most of the above is overkill to me though. How far to take it is a trade-off between convenience and paranoia. But it's not illegal to use encryption in most of the world so there is no particular reason to obfuscate it. Better to be prepare with a good answer if someone asks. Either way, unless you have NSA on your ass, your adversaries will never get into your files without your pass-phrase.
Help out by copying this text and spreading it around. Help people protect their privacy.
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Agree: TrueCrypt useful (Score:5, Interesting)
Having researched TrueCrypt and compared the alternatives, I have started using it routinely. It's not so much that I have something to hide, or that what I want kept private requires as strong an encryption as TrueCrypt. It's more than I simply want a convenient way to encrypt something, forget about it, and not have to worry about it later.
My personal financial data resides in a TrueCrypt volume. To lock up all of those files, I just umount the volume, and that's it.
I also wanted to make an offsite backup of our more valuable personal data in case of disaster, such as a fire that burns down our home, destroying the backups stored at home. For example, we have some digital photos with some irreplaceable priceless memories. So I decided to burn them onto DVD and have my relatives, who live out of town, hang onto copies. But relatives can be nosy, and interspersed in the photos could be things I don't want other people to see, from badly taken photos that "make me look fat" to photos of bank statements and legal documents for which we wanted to store a non-paper copy.
So, I created TrueCrypt volumes of the appropriate size to burn to DVD, and then stashed our photos inside. We've got about 4 years' worth of photos (JPEGs) on two (different) DVDs with our relatives in two locations.
I don't want to encrypt something with cheap encryption, and then worry 4 years down the road when someone discovers a flaw in the scheme. You might ask, "What? Are your non-geek relatives going to go about cracking your encryption?" You never know. What if I become someone --let's not say famous, but prominent? Say some sort of social activist fighting for software freedom? Who knows what could happen to my offsite backup DVDs in 4 years --suppose some hired maid accidentally dumps them in the trash, and are noticed by the neighbourhood trash-diving geek? What if some big company or other enemy happens to get their hands on copies and try to use some embarrassing photos to pressure me? I want to be able to rip off my tinfoil hat and laugh, "Don't be ridiculous! That would never happen!"
TrueCrypt gives me that peace of mind. Among its other features is multiple scheme encryption. Are you worried that AES might get cracked next year? Encrypt with AES, and then encrypt the result with Blowfish.[1] Or Twofish first, then CAST5. TrueCrypt offers multiple options, and it does not store the result anywhere. How does it know that you used AES-then-Blowfish encryption? Because it tries all of the schemes one by one. It tries AES alone with the password you gave. Doesn't work. Tries Blowfish alone. Tries about half a dozen other single-encryption schemes. Then it tries the multiple combinations: Blowfish-Serpent, then AES-Blowfish, etc., going down the list until something works. If nothing works, then it concludes that you entered the wrong password.
It's not a perfect solution, and one drawback with TrueCrypt is that I can't use it on my work computer where I don't have administrator rights. But otherwise it has all the advantages I'm looking for: secure, cross-platform, on-the-fly, open source freedom
Just like a screwdriver: when I want to use it, I don't want to have to Google for user manuals. I just want to do what I need with it, and not have to think about it.
---
[1]: Incidentally, the advantage of AES-with-Blowfish is *not* that you can't crack Blowfish even after the AES on your TrueCrypt file is cracked. Once your AES crypto is cracked, the password is known and the same password will be used for the Blowfish decryption. (Remember, TrueCrypt is open source --once the
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
If "legal authorities" can recover the plaintext then it won't be too long before "rival companies" and "criminal gangs" will have the same ability. It's just a matter of how insecure the least secure police department is.
(any security tool) no real threat to forensics (Score:3, Insightful)
Hey, clever idea! (Score:3, Insightful)
From the article:
Hey, there's a clever idea! I wonder where they thought up that one? I'm glad to see people aren't spending all their time worrying about Vista's DRM...
My computer's a little more advanced (Score:5, Funny)
-----
ME (in Picard's voice):
Computer, establish a security
code for access to all data query
functions.
COMPUTER VOICE:
Enter code.
ME (in Picard's voice speaking at a breakneck speed):
Four, one, three, three, six,
eight, Tango, one, eight, one,
one, seven, one, Charlie, four,
Victor, three... eight, eight,
eight, zero, Foxtrot, six, one,
five, three, three, five, nine,
five, seven, lock.
COMPUTER VOICE:
Security code intact for all
data query functions.
-----
After that, it's just a matter of initiating a cascade force field sequence as I head out the door.
Re:My computer's a little more advanced (Score:5, Funny)
I'm about to give you a gift. I'm about to prove to you that there are people out there who live far sadder lives than you do. When I read your post, the first thing I noticed was that the numbers were incorrect. The code is actually (and this is from memory):
173467321476-Charlie-32789777643-Tango-732-Victo r-73117888732476789764376-Lock
Yes. For reasons that we don't need to go into right now, I actually have that memorized.
Parent
Re: My computer's a little more advanced (Score:4, Funny)
Parent
This isn't really a commentary on Vista (Score:3, Insightful)
A USB key is a neat trick to keep the wife away from your pr0n collection, but it won't do you much good if the FBI can force you to hand it over.
Re:This isn't really a commentary on Vista (Score:4, Funny)
(evil grin)
Make the unlock code the microchip code for your evil, bad-tempered cat that scratches everyone but you. To unlock your computer, use a USB microchip reader to read your cat's details.
If you have to hand over your USB code to the authorities, just give them the cat.
It may not stop the authorities from accessing your data, but it will sure make it more interesting for them to do so. Especially if the unlock code is a hissing, spitting, scratching ball of feline fury.
Parent
Summary of article (Score:4, Interesting)
"If you don't use encryption technologies properly, they will not serve it's purpose."
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
one would hope? (Score:5, Funny)
Really? Personally, I would hope they write their plans on slips of paper and stash them in a shoe box. I really do not wish any success for criminal masterminds...except maybe Dr. Claw. I really thought Inspector Gadget was obnoxious.
I call FUD (Score:5, Insightful)
The article says that if the user was using a USB key to unlock the drive, or was in a corporate environment, investigators would be able to get access by taking the USB key or co-operating with the business owners.
It says that if the computer was on they could get access to the disk. That's only if the computer isn't locked of course, and if you were under investigation you would think the criminal would quickly press [Windows key]+L as the police burst in.
Clearly The Register has been doing lots of research to produce this article; they should try and get it published in a crypto journal.
Most importantly they seem to have completely missed the point of drive encryption; it's to protect against theft, not "investigators". Would Microsoft have built the technology into Vista in the hope that more criminals under investigation would buy Vista?
If you're being investigated no drive encryption is going to help; if they want access to your system they can just as easily use hardware keyloggers. They'll have the evidence they want long before they let you know you're being investigated.
If you want a good reason to bash BitLocker how about; it's expensive, and there are free alternatives that are just as good for guarding your data against theft.
It's a tough job. (Score:4, Insightful)
I think it makes more and more sense to use a VM, if you're concerned about security. You can restore it to a known safe initial state, and you can encrypt its entire world. It seems like a pretty big advantage... oh, and of course, you can move your secure environment to other host machines. Uh. Which may not be all that secure themselves, but hey. I told you this wasn't easy :)
Normally I'm all for bashing MS, but I have yet to see a great solution for this anywhere. So... if any of what I wrote above is new to you, I'd advise that you not trust your Doomsday Device plans (or, more likely, goat porn) to any OS's convenient built-in crypto.
Linux Unified Key Setup (Score:3, Informative)
Take a look at LUKS [endorphin.org].
It now comes standard in the latest Debian Etch installer
You have to remember.... (Score:4, Insightful)
...that most computers won't have either the Trusted Computing Module (TCM) chip or the super-duper expensive version(s) of Vista that come with BitLocker. And even if some consumer did have all that, he'd have to figure out how to enable and configure it.
The majority of Windows users stick with the defaults. No barrier? 'Course not, because it won't be heavily used...
First hand experience (Score:5, Interesting)
Face it, you ain't gonna get there with more horsepower.
But, the guy's a Bronco fan? Index broncos.com and add it to the dictionary. Enter his wife, daughter, marriage date, favorite car, and pets. The dictionary generation software has taken great strides in Making lists of MuffySpot1996 type entries.
Not enough to crack your password? Hmm. Better hope you didn't use it with another program that happened to write it's ram to swap. The forensics tools index EVERY number and word on the drives you enter into evidence. Evidence can be data from your iPod, cellphone, and PDA. It can be from the exchange server and it can be from hotmail.com
Is he Russian? Add the russian dictionary to the search.
So, here's what we have: a Custom dictionary, Russian and English dictionaries, an index of every unique character string captured on all removable and non-removable storage.
That's a lotta chinks in the armor. And Crooks usually aren't that smart.
It was a very enlightening class. During the lab it _easily_ guessed my tier two and three passwords...it didn't get my tier one Passwords, but I didn't enter all my evidence for submission either.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:First hand experience (Score:5, Interesting)
"oneringtoholdthemallandindarknessbindthem"
Throw in the following three things:
1) Capital letter
2) Number
3) Special char
"onerinGgtoholdthemallandindark666nessbin!dthem"
Now remember the "special words": rinGg, dark666ness, bin!d, you'll find those much easier to remember in context.
The length kills any brute force attack, with the added "typos" the number of permutations is huge, killing any dictionary attack. In fact, this one is probably way overkill already.
Parent
Smart crooks don't buy Vista (Score:3, Funny)
Microsoft software "easy to use"? Ha. Hahahahaha (Score:3, Interesting)
In other words, Microsoft really hasn't learned much about security over the last 10 years. They still design security systems that are prone to operating in insecurely. This looks like the "Do you want to run this ActiveX control?" dialog all over again.
Criminal mastermind? (Score:4, Funny)
How to make bitlocker more secure (Score:4, Funny)
Change the field:
ENCRYPT_KEY: ROT13
to
ENCRYPT_KEY: ROT12
Re:Well for one (Score:4, Informative)
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
And no one will ever, ever, ever steal that key.
If you're willing to throw a little money at it, that's fairly easy to ensure, actually.
First, you use a hardware security module to generate the key pair, configured to refuse to ever give up the private key. Ever. With a good HSM, even if the attacker has complete control of the device odds are slim that he can extract the key.
Second, you put this hardware security module in a secure facility, with appropriate processes in place to ensure that the HSM never leaves the building, under any circumsta
Re: (Score:3)
Which doesn't, in practice, prevent them from doing surveillance of Americans.
Re:Well for one (Score:4, Funny)
Ever wondered what cretin was responsible for making you hold the power button in for about 10 seconds before the computer will turn off and why they did it? Now we know - the time betwen your door being knocked down and you knocking the computer off has a confortable 10 seconds (excluding reaction time) for you to be stopped built in...
Unless you hit reboot and then power - then it'll go down immediately. The fascists are foiled again!
Parent
Re:Well for one (Score:5, Insightful)
so anything said against Vista will be modded "Insightful" without the barest show of proof? news for nerds, indeed.
Parent
Re:My porn... (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
Re:PGP? (Score:5, Informative)
http://news.com.com/Minnesota+court+takes+dim+vie
A brief excerpt:
But the Minnesota appeals court ruled 3-0 that the trial judge was correct to let that information be used when handing down a guilty verdict.
I would say "encryption deemed criminal intent" is more of an interpretation by Internet journalists of the ruling than what was actually said. But it is true that if you are on trial for a crime in Minnesota, there's a precedent for the mere fact that you have PGP software on your computer to be used against you as evidence for the prosecution--despite the prosecutor's witness himself saying that PGP capable software is already available in OSX.
Parent
Re:PGP? (Score:5, Interesting)
So, if you're on trial in Minnesota, you'd better not be using a Mac? Or Linux, since many distributions also include GnuPG.
Conclusion: Use Windows to be safe. It's encryption software is bad enough to not make you go to jail.
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Or a really big botnet [google.com].
Duh.
Re:Poe said it in 1843 in "The Gold Bug:" (Score:5, Insightful)
Encryption is merely the process of protecting data for a given amount of time against an attacker with assumed resources. Obviously any infinitely smart attacker with an infinite amount of time can break any encryption method, but no one alive today will be able to break AES-128 within the next 50 years at least, and only then with a major mathematical breakthrough that would probably benefit humanity more than just the broken cipher. If we can't find a mathematical solution to breaking AES, it would take Moore's law approximately 100 years before computer technology was sufficient to break AES. 128 bit key lengths and longer were chosen explicitly to deal with the case that Moore's law will continue unabated and that mathematical breakthroughs are possible.
To put it in practical terms, every DES encrypted message is easily breakable now, but no one is really worried. DES encrypted data is now pretty much worthless. A lot of people overestimate the value of the data they encrypt, and often it's really only necessary to keep secret for a few years or decades at most. Even so, I doubt there will ever be an end to encryption, because even if P=NP there will be problems that are harder to solve than to pose. Such problems can be used for encryption as long as the ratio between the work to encrypt and decrypt is faster than breaking it by a sufficient margin which can usually be increased by lengthening the keys.
Parent