Britain Wants Access To Encrypted Vista Hard Drives

[cdanteek]

Microsoft's Trusted Computing has been much in the news recently, usually because consumers are worried that the system will grant media companies and software firms control over certain parts of a user's PC. But consumers aren't the only ones who have concerns about the system—police in the UK are also worried, and the government is in talks with Microsoft to do something about the problem.

 

The issue is BitLocker Drive Encryption, slated for inclusion in Vista. The system can encrypt a user's entire hard drive, making it almost impossible to access data if the drive is removed from the computer or otherwise tampered with. It works in conjunction with the Trusted Platform Module (TPM), a motherboard chip that generates secure keys. Under the BitLocker system, the key will never be stored on the hard drive itself, making the drive's contents more secure. The key is only released in the presence of the authorized operating system.

 

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060215-6185.html