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Microsoft will give the FBI a Windows PC data encryption key if ordered

windowscentral.com

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Re: Microsoft will give the FBI a Windows PC data encryption key if ordered

#41
post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For a long time, if you used full disk encryption, the encryption key never left your machine. If you forgot your password, the data was gone - tough luck, should have made a backup. That's still how it works on Linux. Pretty surprising they'd back up the disk encryption secrets to the cloud at all, IMHO, let alone that they'd back it up in plaintext.

Well, for a consumer notebook or mobile device, the threat model typically envisions a thief grabbing it from a coffeehouse or hotel room. So your key needs to be safeguarded from the opportunist who possesses your hardware illegally. Linux can be fairly well-secured against state-level threat actors, but honestly, if your adversary is your own nation-state, then no amount of security is going to protect you! For Mic…

The problem is mass-surveillance and dragnets. Obviously if the state wants to go after you no laws will protect you. As we've seen they can even illegally collect evidence and then do a parallel construction to "launder" the evidence.

But One-drive is essentially a mass-surveillance tool. It's a way to load the contents of every single person's computer into Palentir or similar tools and, say, for instance, "give me a list of everyone who harbors anti-ICE sentiments."

By the way my windows computer nags me incessantly about "setting up backups" with no obvious way to turn off the nags, only a "remind me later" button. I assume at some point the option to not have backups will go away.

Re: Microsoft will give the FBI a Windows PC data encryption key if ordered

#42
post #36
post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, I know this sounds conspiratorial, but I think the whole Liquid Ass thing was a rush to put some other software in Apple products to appease the Trump admin. For example, it is new in Tahoe that they store your filevault encryption key in your icloud keychain without telling you. https://sixcolors.com/post/2025/09/filevault-on-macos-tahoe-...

Which is a very good thing. iCloud is much more secure than most people realize because most people don’t take the 30 minutes to learn how it is architected. You can (and should) watch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLGFriOKz6U&t=1993s for all the details about how iCloud is protected, but especially the time-linked section. :)

I dont need to know anything about icloud to know this repy doesnt answer the "they didnt tell anyone" part which naturally makes me suspicious.

Re: Microsoft will give the FBI a Windows PC data encryption key if ordered

#43

The major OS vendors (apple, google, ms) are complicit in data turnover and have been for over ten years now. It has been reported multiple times so I'm struggling to see the angle being projected here. This feels like click harvesting got the HN "Microsoft bad" crowd.

[deleted]

Re: Microsoft will give the FBI a Windows PC data encryption key if ordered

#45
Beyond the crypto architecture debate, I don't really understand how could anyone imagine a world where MS could just refuse such a request. How exactly would we draft laws to this effect, "the authorities can subpoena for any piece of evidence, except when complying to such a request might break the contractual obligations of a third party towards the suspect"?

Do we really, really, fully understand the implications of allowing for private contracts that can trump criminal law?

Re: Microsoft will give the FBI a Windows PC data encryption key if ordered

#46

The major OS vendors (apple, google, ms) are complicit in data turnover and have been for over ten years now. It has been reported multiple times so I'm struggling to see the angle being projected here. This feels like click harvesting got the HN "Microsoft bad" crowd.

The segment of the population that is the target of political vindictiveness from the FBI seems to have changed somewhat with this administration so it makes sense to remind people of the vulnerabilities from time to time.

Re: Microsoft will give the FBI a Windows PC data encryption key if ordered

#47
Very different phrasing between the headline and the subtitle:

> Microsoft confirms it will give the FBI your Windows PC data encryption key if asked

> Microsoft says it will hand those over to the FBI if requested via legal order

Microsoft complying with legal orders is not news. But why hire actual journalists when you can just lie in your headlines and still get clicks?

Re: Microsoft will give the FBI a Windows PC data encryption key if ordered

#49
post #4

Veracrypt https://veracrypt.io/en/Home.html

https://linuxmint.com/ https://ubuntu.com/download/desktop https://archlinux.org/ https://www.kali.org/get-kali/#kali-platforms https://fedoraproject.org/ Every bad day for microsoft is yet another glorious day for linux.

> Every bad day for microsoft is yet another glorious day for linux.

Nah. If that were the case, Linux would dominate personal computer statistics. The reality is that most mainstream users just don't care. But, of course, that won't stop us.

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