4 ms·

There really is no ground for any excuses here. Companies like Microsoft and Google doing their part to further the government's agenda for the most complete su

by benevol 11y ago

There really is no ground for any excuses here. Companies like Microsoft and Google doing their part to further the government's agenda for the most complete surveillance and/or control over user data is simply not acceptable. The only valid answer is to switch to Linux. (And don't ask the average user to understand or do anything to prevent that. Default matter.)

Amezarak 11y ago
The previous status quo was that law enforcement, criminals, or that guy at Best Buy could by default get all the data off your drive without any effort whatsoever. Microsoft added drive encryption by default with easy recovery if you forget your password - which necessitates Microsoft keeping the recovery key by default. Power users can change these settings. There is no "excuse" here, Microsoft has improved the situation. (And unless things have changed recently, user action is required on virtually every popular Linux distribution except Android to get any drive encryption at all.)
- benevol 11y ago
  Everybody's talking about encryption these days. People are finally waking up and getting a bit suspicious. Obviously it is convenient for Microsoft to produce an inferior solution which also happens to be what the government wants. What people need is education about the situation and a real solution. Not a "solution" that makes them feel secure, which is what Microsoft sells here.
- at-fates-hands 11y ago
  >> or that guy at Best Buy could by default get all the data off your drive without any effort whatsoever. You are correct: http://www.cnet.com/news/best-buy-employee-accused-of-copying-womans-steamy-photos/ http://www.cnet.com/news/best-buy-employee-accused-of-copyin... http://consumerist.com/2007/07/05/video-consumerist-catches-geek-squad-stealing-porn-from-customers-computer/ http://consumerist.com/2007/07/05/video-consumerist-catches-... http://consumerist.com/2007/05/02/the-10-page-geek-squad-confession-stealing-customers-nudie-pics-was-an-easter-egg-hunt/ http://consumerist.com/2007/05/02/the-10-page-geek-squad-con...
- ikeboy 11y ago
  Power users can only change if they have Pro. So Microsoft is charging more to not keep the key, which means they view it as a benefit for them to keep the key. If it was just to help the user, why charge to not upload the key?
  - serge2k 11y ago
    > Power users can only change if they have Pro. So get pro.
  - Amezarak 11y ago
    > So Microsoft is charging more to not keep the key, which means they view it as a benefit for them to keep the key. Or it means that Bitlocker has been a Pro or Ultimate feature in Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 8.1, and PHBs decreed that Microsoft wasn't going to put the full-fledged feature in Home to continue to differentiate between Home and Pro and that the intended market of Home users did not need to be provided a way to lose their keys and brick their computers because nobody wants those support calls and the negative publicity about your data being inaccessible?
    - ikeboy 11y ago
      Device encryption has been around since 8: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-8/using-device-encryption http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-8/using-device-en... >the intended market of Home users did not need to be provided a way to lose their keys and brick their computers because nobody wants those support calls and the negative publicity about your data being inaccessible So make the option a registry tweak, which is free, not an upgrade to Pro, which isn't. I don't think freedom from corporate decryption abilities should be something charged for.
      - Amezarak 11y ago
        Device Encryption is just Bitlocker under the hood, which has been a Pro/Ultimate feature since Vista. A basic version of Bitlocker has been provided since Windows 8 in the Home edition, as you point out. There's nothing more I can write I didn't address in the above post. Device encryption and Bitlocker aren't separate entities. Device encryption is the consumer version of Bitlocker. Device encryption doesn't expose all the features of Bitlocker because then there's less that differentiates Home and Pro/Enterprise. I agree it would be nice to have in Home, but the average Home user doesn't know what this is, doesn't want it, and probably shouldn't have it. If you are the kind of knowledgeable user that does know it and should have it, Pro isn't hard to get. Hell, Home doesn't even have freakin' Remote Desktop. Microsoft has to have something to differentiate editions (if they're going to insist on doing so in the first place - life would be simpler if they didn't), this seems reasonable enough and a step in the right direction - more encrypted harddrives. There is no "corporate decryption ability" unless Microsoft is in actual physical possession of your TPM and harddrive.

by benevol 11y ago

Amezarak 11y ago

The previous status quo was that law enforcement, criminals, or that guy at Best Buy could by default get all the data off your drive without any effort whatsoever. Microsoft added drive encryption by default with easy recovery if you forget your password - which necessitates Microsoft keeping the recovery key by default. Power users can change these settings. There is no "excuse" here, Microsoft has improved the situation. (And unless things have changed recently, user action is required on virtually every popular Linux distribution except Android to get any drive encryption at all.)

benevol 11y ago
Everybody's talking about encryption these days. People are finally waking up and getting a bit suspicious. Obviously it is convenient for Microsoft to produce an inferior solution which also happens to be what the government wants. What people need is education about the situation and a real solution. Not a "solution" that makes them feel secure, which is what Microsoft sells here.
at-fates-hands 11y ago
>> or that guy at Best Buy could by default get all the data off your drive without any effort whatsoever. You are correct: http://www.cnet.com/news/best-buy-employee-accused-of-copying-womans-steamy-photos/ http://www.cnet.com/news/best-buy-employee-accused-of-copyin... http://consumerist.com/2007/07/05/video-consumerist-catches-geek-squad-stealing-porn-from-customers-computer/ http://consumerist.com/2007/07/05/video-consumerist-catches-... http://consumerist.com/2007/05/02/the-10-page-geek-squad-confession-stealing-customers-nudie-pics-was-an-easter-egg-hunt/ http://consumerist.com/2007/05/02/the-10-page-geek-squad-con...
ikeboy 11y ago
Power users can only change if they have Pro. So Microsoft is charging more to not keep the key, which means they view it as a benefit for them to keep the key. If it was just to help the user, why charge to not upload the key?
- serge2k 11y ago
  > Power users can only change if they have Pro. So get pro.
- Amezarak 11y ago
  > So Microsoft is charging more to not keep the key, which means they view it as a benefit for them to keep the key. Or it means that Bitlocker has been a Pro or Ultimate feature in Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 8.1, and PHBs decreed that Microsoft wasn't going to put the full-fledged feature in Home to continue to differentiate between Home and Pro and that the intended market of Home users did not need to be provided a way to lose their keys and brick their computers because nobody wants those support calls and the negative publicity about your data being inaccessible?
  - ikeboy 11y ago
    Device encryption has been around since 8: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-8/using-device-encryption http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-8/using-device-en... >the intended market of Home users did not need to be provided a way to lose their keys and brick their computers because nobody wants those support calls and the negative publicity about your data being inaccessible So make the option a registry tweak, which is free, not an upgrade to Pro, which isn't. I don't think freedom from corporate decryption abilities should be something charged for.
    - Amezarak 11y ago
      Device Encryption is just Bitlocker under the hood, which has been a Pro/Ultimate feature since Vista. A basic version of Bitlocker has been provided since Windows 8 in the Home edition, as you point out. There's nothing more I can write I didn't address in the above post. Device encryption and Bitlocker aren't separate entities. Device encryption is the consumer version of Bitlocker. Device encryption doesn't expose all the features of Bitlocker because then there's less that differentiates Home and Pro/Enterprise. I agree it would be nice to have in Home, but the average Home user doesn't know what this is, doesn't want it, and probably shouldn't have it. If you are the kind of knowledgeable user that does know it and should have it, Pro isn't hard to get. Hell, Home doesn't even have freakin' Remote Desktop. Microsoft has to have something to differentiate editions (if they're going to insist on doing so in the first place - life would be simpler if they didn't), this seems reasonable enough and a step in the right direction - more encrypted harddrives. There is no "corporate decryption ability" unless Microsoft is in actual physical possession of your TPM and harddrive.