If your computer has a blue screen that asks for 48 digits, that's BitLocker working properly and not having an error. The key is automatically escrowed far more often than you would think, which means the first step should always include finding out what locations exist for searching for the key. Where the drive has actually failed as well, the order of work matters more than most people expect.
In all but a very few cases the key is present; it just has not been looked for. Here are four places that you should check now.
We say it clearly and honestly, as there are several companies who will imply otherwise.
AES is used by BitLocker with keys of 128 or 256 bits. There is no backdoor, no master key, no vendor override and there is no computational shortcut. The brute-force method for cracking a properly generated key has nothing to do with money or time. It is simply not possible with any hardware available today (or ever likely to be).
Therefore, if neither the recovery key nor the correct password can be found, then the data is irretrievable. This is encryption functioning in the manner it was intended to function. If anyone claims they can break BitLocker, they are either attempting a dictionary attack upon a poorly chosen user password or are deceiving you.
What we can do is determine if the volume is truly BitLocked or merely unreadable, and this makes a difference: a great many disks that people assume are encrypted are actually suffering from some form of ordinary file system failure.
Before you conclude the key is gone. Ask your IT department (even after you've left) and check the Microsoft account that device was initially configured under, rather than the one you use now. Most of the time, these are the two places where people find the “key” they believe is lost.
In cases where a physical failure occurred on a BitLocked drive, there are two problems that need to be resolved, but they need to be done in a specific order. The drive needs to be copied at a sector level first, just like any other failing hard disk. A sector-level copy creates an exact replica of the encrypted volume. After this, the key is applied to the image and not to the failing drive itself.
This is important because unlocking and mounting a failing drive will power it and keep it working for much longer than an imaging process. Also, by imaging before unlocking, you could potentially recover some data from a partial image where an unlock attempt on a failing disk would fail completely.
We will still need the key. Recovery from physical means does not circumvent encryption, and no honest lab would ever tell you that it does.
If the drive has failed and you have the key, then BitLocker work is £800 +VAT flat. This is a single fee rather than a range, because regardless of what the fault turns out to be, the decryption process is the same amount of work.
If you truly lose the key there is no charge, as there is nothing for us to sell. The diagnostic determines if the volume was encrypted at all (there is no charge).
Typically, this is recovery mode triggered by a firmware or hardware change, not due to a fault. Check account.microsoft.com/devices/recoverykey, or contact your IT team if it's on a work machine. The key almost certainly exists.
No. Nor can anyone else. AES with correctly generated keys has no shortcuts. Anyone saying otherwise is either doing a dictionary attack on weak passwords, or misleading you.
This would be standard recovery. The drive would first need to be imaged, then the key applied to that image. Pricing and turnaround times will follow those of any other single-drive job.
We cannot help, which is proper rather than obstructive. The key belongs to whoever owns the machine. We will not attempt to bypass encryption on a device you do not own.
Commonly found on most recent versions of Windows, which enable device encryption as part of the initial install process for numerous computers. This encryption key will have been stored under the Microsoft account that was entered when the computer was initially set up, which can sometimes mean this is no longer the account being used today.
Same place, different implementation. Apple's FileVault works like this too. It is just as impossible to break into as the above-mentioned product (unless someone has access to either the password or the recovery key). And it will open up to anyone who enters either of those two items.
You'll get a complimentary diagnostic, a quick way to verify ownership of the drive you are attempting to decrypt, and then your encrypted drive opened and returned to you decrypted, even if it is a failing hard drive. Get in contact with us and we will handle the rest.