Microsoft Gave FBI Keys To Unlock Encrypted Data, Exposing Major Privacy Flaw

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Source: Forbes

DAILY COVER
Microsoft Gave FBI Keys To Unlock Encrypted Data, Exposing Major Privacy Flaw

The tech giant said it receives around 20 requests for BitLocker keys a year and will provide them to governments in response to valid court orders. But companies like Apple and Meta set up their systems so such a privacy violation isn’t possible.

ByThomas Brewster,Forbes Staff. Senior writer at Forbes covering cybercrime, privacy and surveillance.
Jan 23, 2026 at 06:30am EST

Early last year, the FBI served Microsoft with a search warrant, asking it to provide recovery keys to unlock encrypted data stored on three laptops. Federal investigators in Guam believed the devices held evidence that would help prove individuals handling the island’s Covid unemployment assistance program were part of a plot to steal funds. ... The data was protected with BitLocker, software that’s automatically enabled on many modern Windows PCs to safeguard all the data on the computer’s hard drive. BitLocker scrambles the data so that only those with a key can decode it.

It’s possible for users to store those keys on a device they own, but Microsoft also recommends BitLocker users store their keys on its servers for convenience. While that means someone can access their data if they forget their password, or if repeated failed attempts to login lock the device, it also makes them vulnerable to law enforcement subpoenas and warrants. ... In the Guam case, it handed over the encryption keys to investigators.

Microsoft confirmed to Forbes that it does provide BitLocker recovery keys if it receives a valid legal order. “While key recovery offers convenience, it also carries a risk of unwanted access, so Microsoft believes customers are in the best position to decide... how to manage their keys,” said Microsoft spokesperson Charles Chamberlayne. ... He said the company receives around 20 requests for BitLocker keys per year and in many cases, the user has not stored their key in the cloud making it impossible for Microsoft to assist.

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Read more: https://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2026/01/22/microsoft-gave-fbi-keys-to-unlock-bitlocker-encrypted-data/

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Hat tip, Google News

[Wonder Why]

1. Another example of why idiots use Windows.

[reACTIONary]

5. Those idiots who.....

... Happen to be criminals.

[wolfie001]

2. I guess they've seen all my "fat orange imbecile" posts

Oh, and they can fuck the hell off too.

[pecosbob]

3. My PC's about ten years old now...been wanting to build a Steam box for a while now.

Oh, except AI and crypto have made made PC hardware pretty much unaffordable.

[Bengus81]

7. Still tons of those shit graphic cards that are all but burnt up from mining on Amazon,eBay

Don't buy any used graphics card unless you really know the person selling.

[PSPS]

4. This is the major motivation behind Windows 11 and TPM

Microsoft tracks everything you do on your computer with its copilot and "recall"

[SWBTATTReg]

6. Easy way around this...isolate the so-called critical data/sensitive data into a separate PC, and keep isolated.

Any that needs such a sensitive encoding mechanism shouldn't be allowed onto a medium that communicates w/ the open world (and what little of the 'open' world to communicate w/ should be a very, very small window.