Encryption used to be synonymous with data security. Microsoft has put an end to that notion. In an effort to assist law enforcement, Microsoft has developed a methodology to break encryption:

“Microsoft’s Computer Online Forensic Evidence Extractor, or COFEE, is thumb drive-based tool set to assist in the decryption of data that law enforcement officials suspect is involved in a crime. Microsoft says COFEE does not constitute a back door to its BitLocker encryption, but privacy advocates worry that what can be used can also be abused — especially if it’s all on a tiny, easily-lost thumb drive.”

link: Microsoft Hands Cops a Crowbar for BitLocker

There is an obvious concern for privacy advocates that this effectively removes a tool for safeguarding data. A secondary and perhaps greater concern is that now hackers know that there is a means to circumvent encryption, beyond the previous methodologies. The Microsoft methodology works and is good enough for law enforcement. How soon will this be marketed and sold within the hacker community?

Catherine Forsythe
Director of Operations
FlyingHamster: http://flyinghamster.com/

Tags: microsoft, encryption, privacy, security, law enforcement, hackers, bitlocker