The tech giant said providing encryption keys was a standard response to a court order. But companies like Apple and Meta set up their systems so such a privacy violation isn’t possible.
That’s a great question, and it is because it enables a chain of cryptographic controls that enable verification, tamper resistance, and secrecy while selling Bitlocker as computer security. It is technically secure, except that MS has your recovery keys and can just give them to whoever they want.
This way, they can mathematically verify:
Who you are and the exact unique machine you use (verification from a unique machine ID associated with your encryption keys and Windows account data)
Know that the data has not been altered in transit (tamper resistance hash of your data)
No one else knows except them (secret encryption keys only Microsoft controls, not you, Microsoft)
This architecture also keeps their data on your machine secure. If someone maintains an encrypted archive on your hard drive that only they control the keys to, say like a movie or a video game, who owns that data really? If it’s decrypted only for authorized use, you’re really only renting that content from the owner.
Technically they could do this remotely if they really wanted to and your machine were powered. Imagine what you could do with this power for every Windows machine on the planet.
There is also the case when a computer is lost or stolen. With bitlocker on, the content of the computer cannot be accesses without the key, which the new owner will not have.
I always thought that was the main point of using bitlocker.
If they were that interested, why would they push encryption at all?
That’s a great question, and it is because it enables a chain of cryptographic controls that enable verification, tamper resistance, and secrecy while selling Bitlocker as computer security. It is technically secure, except that MS has your recovery keys and can just give them to whoever they want.
This way, they can mathematically verify:
Who you are and the exact unique machine you use (verification from a unique machine ID associated with your encryption keys and Windows account data)
Know that the data has not been altered in transit (tamper resistance hash of your data)
No one else knows except them (secret encryption keys only Microsoft controls, not you, Microsoft)
This architecture also keeps their data on your machine secure. If someone maintains an encrypted archive on your hard drive that only they control the keys to, say like a movie or a video game, who owns that data really? If it’s decrypted only for authorized use, you’re really only renting that content from the owner.
Technically they could do this remotely if they really wanted to and your machine were powered. Imagine what you could do with this power for every Windows machine on the planet.
There is also the case when a computer is lost or stolen. With bitlocker on, the content of the computer cannot be accesses without the key, which the new owner will not have.
I always thought that was the main point of using bitlocker.
Verification of identity.
Marketing. Just that.