Insights

So, if you need to access EFS-encrypted files, you do not have the user’s Windows password, and you may even be dealing with an “IT gone rogue” (i.e. you cannot rely on help from IT – e.g. one or more may be suspects!) scenario, what are your options?

Arsenal is unlike other digital forensics software vendors in the sense that we are consultants involved in casework first and software developers second. We build tools when we find valuable information being left behind by existing tools and techniques.

In “BitLocker for DFIR – Part I” we provided a quick summary of BitLocker, details regarding the various “states” of BitLocker volumes that we see most often in our casework, and some thoughts on things that are particularly relevant to digital forensics and incident response practitioners. We will now discuss launching virtual machines from BitLockered disk images.

BitLocker is a Full Volume Encryption (FVE) technology introduced by Microsoft in the Ultimate and Enterprise versions of Windows Vista. BitLocker has come a very long way since Vista, becoming quite flexible (some of our colleagues might prefer the word complicated) and secure if used properly.