4 ms·
For most users, this protects them to a useful level. Most users don't think losing a password is a big deal and would be very upset to learn their data is lost
by MichaelGG 11y ago
For most users, this protects them to a useful level. Most users don't think losing a password is a big deal and would be very upset to learn their data is lost because they forgot. That's an anti-feature.
The number of people that'll be protected from leaving their laptop in a taxi, or home burglary, or selling/trading-in a device, or just snoopy relatives or acquaintances, etc. is large and MS absolutely made the right call here. Otherwise, you'd have "experts" giving advice to disable this feature or suffer data loss.
Also, if they use OneDrive to back stuff up (like they should!), the security damage is already done as most juicy files will be unencrypted in MS's hosting and still subject to warrants.
- JoshTriplett 11y ago> For most users, this protects them to a useful level. Most users don't think losing a password is a big deal and would be very upset to learn their data is lost because they forgot. That's an anti-feature. "Would you like to store a backup for your drive encryption password on Microsoft OneDrive? If you choose not to do so, and you forget your password, all of your data will be lost. [Yes/No]" And none of that warrants a ToS that says they can use that backup for anything other than helping you recover your data. > Also, if they use OneDrive to back stuff up (like they should!), the security damage is already done as most juicy files will be unencrypted in MS's hosting and still subject to warrants. Hence why client-side-encrypted backups are a good idea.
- mejari 11y ago>"Would you like to store a backup for your drive encryption password on Microsoft OneDrive? If you choose not to do so, and you forget your password, all of your data will be lost. [Yes/No]" You know when most people care about whether or not they can recover their data? It's not when someone asks them a Yes/No question, it's when they can't recover their data. And responding with "Well, remember 2 years ago when you clicked 'No'?" Doesn't really help.
- JoshTriplett 11y agoWhich is a great reason why we should be seeking better authentication systems than memorizing random passwords. Or providing people with another means of backup; for instance, provide options to both "back up via print" and "back up to USB device", in both cases providing something you could then store in a secure location.
- jeeva 11y agoWhich the Bitlocker stuff already does, when you run it manually. I suspect not with devices that come pre-encrypted - Surfaces, etc. I was going to say that the most likely thing folk have done is try to back up their key on the drive they encrypt - but last time I tried that due to not being on a network, I think the Bitlocker wizard refused to let me.
- simoncion 11y agoThen, don't make it a [Yes/No] question, make it an [Okay] with a barely noticeable "Change Advanced Settings" link; much like the dialog that the TFA complains about.
- MBCook 11y agoWhy show the non-prompt? The users who don't want it can turn it off later, as is the case now.
- simoncion 11y agoI want to encrypt my drive, but ensure that the encryption keys never leave systems that I physically control. I sure as hell don't want to encrypt my drive a second time because the default setting (that I could only change later, when I'm actually using the computer) for the drive encryption software was to upload the drive crypto key to The Cloud. Or am I misunderstanding your question?
- TillE 11y ago"Later", as in after the key is sent to Microsoft? Not very useful.