How Does Your Organization Currently Generate Encryption Keys

1. Keys are integral to modern day public key infrastructure (PKI) and encryption as a whole. Keys in cryptography are like the rice to your sushi or the cream filling for your Oreo cookies — they’re essential components. In the olden days (you know, before modern technology), a key was the secret roadmap, if you will, of an encryption technique.
2. Mar 16, 2017  Public Key Encryption solved this problem through the use of asymmetric keys. Users now generate two keys, not one. The Private key, which needs to remain a secret and never shared, and the Public key, which can be shared and seen by everyone. Senders can encrypt information by using the widely available public key of the recipient.
3. Creating or Obtaining an SSL Key and Certificate. When you have your organization's private key and SSL certificate. It explains how to generate your own private key and a certificate signing request (CSR), which you can then use to get an SSL certificate.

1. How Does Your Organization Currently Generate Encryption Keys Work
2. How Does Your Organization Currently Generate Encryption Keys In Word
3. How Does Your Organization Currently Generate Encryption Keys 2017
4. How Does Your Organization Currently Generate Encryption Keys In Firefox
5. How Does Your Organization Currently Generate Encryption Keys In Windows 10

Applies to

AWS KMS allows you to create and control the encryption keys used by your applications and supported AWS services in multiple regions around the world from a single console. The service uses an FIPS HSM that has been validated under FIPS 140-2, or are in the process of being validated, to protect the security of your keys. With Customer Key, you control your organization's encryption keys and then configure Office 365 to use them to encrypt your data at rest in Microsoft's data centers. Service encryption with Customer Key in Office 365 - Microsoft 365 Compliance Microsoft Docs. Apr 09, 2020 Local SSDs are already protected with an ephemeral encryption key that Google does not retain. Compute Engine does not store encryption keys with instance templates, so you need to store your own keys in KMS to encrypt disks in a managed instance group. Required key format. It is up to you to generate and manage your key. Nov 13, 2019 This key may be stored in your Microsoft account, printed or saved as a file, or with an organization that is managing the device. The requirement for a recovery key in these cases is a critical component of the protection that BitLocker provides your data.

• Windows 10

This topic for the IT professional explains how can you plan your BitLocker deployment.

When you design your BitLocker deployment strategy, define the appropriate policies and configuration requirements based on the business requirements of your organization. The following topics will help you collect information that you can use to frame your decision-making process about deploying and managing BitLocker systems.

Audit your environment

To plan your enterprise deployment of BitLocker, you must first understand your current environment. Conduct an informal audit to define your current policies, procedures, and hardware environment. Begin by reviewing your existing corporate security policies as they relate to disk encryption software. If your organization is not currently using disk encryption software, none of these policies will exist. If you are using disk encryption software, then you might need to modify your organization's policies to address the capabilities of BitLocker.

Use the following questions to help you document your organization's current disk encryption security policies:

1. Are there policies to address which computers will use BitLocker and which computers will not use BitLocker?
2. What policies exist to control recovery password and recovery key storage?
3. What are the policies for validating the identity of users that need to perform BitLocker recovery?
4. What policies exist to control who in the organization has access to recovery data?
5. What policies exist to control computer decommissioning or retirement?

Encryption keys and authentication

BitLocker helps prevent unauthorized access to data on lost or stolen computers by:

• Encrypting the entire Windows operating system volume on the hard disk.
• Verifying the boot process integrity.

The trusted platform module (TPM) is a hardware component installed in many newer computers by the computer manufacturers. It works with BitLocker to help protect user data and to ensure that a computer has not been tampered with while the system was offline.

In addition, BitLocker offers the option to lock the normal startup process until the user supplies a personal identification number (PIN) or inserts a removable USB device, such as a flash drive, that contains a startup key. These additional security measures provide multifactor authentication and assurance that the computer will not start or resume from hibernation until the correct PIN or startup key is presented.

On computers that do not have a TPM version 1.2 or higher, you can still use BitLocker to encrypt the Windows operating system volume. However, this implementation will require the user to insert a USB startup key to start the computer or resume from hibernation, and does not provide the pre-startup system integrity verification offered by BitLocker working with a TPM.

BitLocker key protectors

BitLocker authentication methods

Will you support computers without TPM version 1.2 or higher?

Determine whether you will support computers that do not have a TPM version 1.2 or higher in your environment. If you choose to support BitLocker on this type of computer, a user must use a USB startup key to boot the system. This requires additional support processes similar to multifactor authentication.

What areas of your organization need a baseline level of data protection?

The TPM-only authentication method will provide the most transparent user experience for organizations that need a baseline level of data protection to meet security policies. It has the lowest total cost of ownership. TPM-only might also be more appropriate for computers that are unattended or that must reboot unattended.

Quantum mechanics and entanglement to generate a random key. However, TPM-only authentication method offers the lowest level of data protection. This authentication method protects against attacks that modify early boot components, but the level of protection can be affected by potential weaknesses in hardware or in the early boot components. BitLocker’s multifactor authentication methods significantly increase the overall level of data protection.

How Does Your Organization Currently Generate Encryption Keys Work

What areas of your organization need a more secure level of data protection?

If there are areas of your organization where data residing on user computers is considered highly-sensitive, consider the best practice of deploying BitLocker with multifactor authentication on those systems. Requiring the user to input a PIN significantly increases the level of protection for the system. You can also use BitLocker Network Unlock to allow these computers to automatically unlock when connected to a trusted wired network that can provide the Network Unlock key.

What multifactor authentication method does your organization prefer?

The protection differences provided by multifactor authentication methods cannot be easily quantified. Consider each authentication method's impact on Helpdesk support, user education, user productivity, and automated systems management processes.

TPM hardware configurations

In your deployment plan, identify what TPM-based hardware platforms will be supported. Document the hardware models from an OEM of your choice, so that their configurations can be tested and supported. TPM hardware requires special consideration during all aspects of planning and deployment.

TPM 1.2 states and initialization

For TPM 1.2, there are multiple possible states. Windows 10 automatically initializes the TPM, which brings it to an enabled, activated, and owned state. This is the state that BitLocker requires before it can use the TPM.

Endorsement keys

For a TPM to be usable by BitLocker, it must contain an endorsement key, which is an RSA key pair. The private half of the key pair is held inside the TPM and is never revealed or accessible outside the TPM. If the TPM does not contain an endorsement key, BitLocker will force the TPM to generate one automatically as part of BitLocker setup.

An endorsement key can be created at various points in the TPM’s lifecycle, but needs to be created only once for the lifetime of the TPM. If an endorsement key does not exist for the TPM, it must be created before TPM ownership can be taken.

For more information about the TPM and the TCG, see the Trusted Computing Group: Trusted Platform Module (TPM) Specifications (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/p/?linkid=69584).

Non-TPM hardware configurations

Devices that do not include a TPM can still be protected by drive encryption. Windows To Go workspaces can be BitLocker protected using a startup password and PCs without a TPM can use a startup key.

Use the following questions to identify issues that might affect your deployment in a non-TPM configuration:

• Are password complexity rules in place?
• Do you have budget for USB flash drives for each of these computers?
• Do your existing non-TPM devices support USB devices at boot time?

Test your individual hardware platforms with the BitLocker system check option while you are enabling BitLocker. The system check will ensure that BitLocker can read the recovery information from a USB device and encryption keys correctly before it encrypts the volume. CD and DVD drives cannot act as a block storage device and cannot be used to store the BitLocker recovery material.

Disk configuration considerations

To function correctly, BitLocker requires a specific disk configuration. BitLocker requires two partitions that meet the following requirements:

• The operating system partition contains the operating system and its support files; it must be formatted with the NTFS file system
• The system partition (or boot partition) contains the files that are needed to load Windows after the BIOS or UEFI firware has prepared the system hardware. BitLocker is not enabled on this partition. For BitLocker to work, the system partition must not be encrypted and must be on a different partition than the operating system. On UEFI platforms the system partition must be formatted with the FAT 32 file system. On BIOS platforms the system partition must be formatted with the NTFS file system. It should be at least 350 MB in size

Windows setup will automatically configure the disk drives of your computer to support BitLocker encryption.

Windows Recovery Environment (Windows RE) is an extensible recovery platform that is based on Windows Pre-installation Environment (Windows PE). When the computer fails to start, Windows automatically transitions into this environment, and the Startup Repair tool in Windows RE automates the diagnosis and repair of an unbootable Windows installation. Windows RE also contains the drivers and tools that are needed to unlock a volume protected by BitLocker by providing a recovery key or recovery password. To use Windows RE in conjunction with BitLocker, the Windows RE boot image must reside on a volume that is not protected by BitLocker.

Windows RE can also be used from boot media other than the local hard disk. If you choose not to install Windows RE on the local hard disk of BitLocker-enabled computers, you can use alternate boot methods, such as Windows Deployment Services, CD-ROM, or USB flash drive, for recovery.

BitLocker provisioning

In Windows Vista and Windows 7, BitLocker was provisioned post installation for system and data volumes through either the manage-bde command line interface or the Control Panel user interface. With newer operating systems, BitLocker can be easily provisioned before the operating system is installed. Preprovisioning requires that the computer have a TPM.

To check the BitLocker status of a particular volume, administrators can look at the status of the drive in the BitLocker control panel applet or Windows Explorer. A status of 'Waiting For Activation' with a yellow exclamation icon means that the drive was preprovisioned for BitLocker. This status means that there was only a clear protector used when encrypting the volume. In this case, the volume is not protected and needs to have a secure key added to the volume before the drive is considered fully protected. Administrators can use the control panel options, manage-bde tool or WMI APIs to add an appropriate key protector and the volume status will be updated.

When using the control panel options, administrators can choose to Turn on BitLocker and follow the steps in the wizard to add a protector, such as a PIN for an operating system volume (or a password if no TPM exists), or a password or smart card protector to a data volume. Then the drive security window is presented prior to changing the volume status.

Administrators can enable BitLocker prior to operating system deployment from the Windows Pre-installation Environment (WinPE). This is done with a randomly generated clear key protector applied to the formatted volume and encrypting the volume prior to running the Windows setup process. If the encryption uses the Used Disk Space Only option this step takes only a few seconds and so incorporates well into regular deployment processes.

Used Disk Space Only encryption

The BitLocker Setup wizard provides administrators the ability to choose the Used Disk Space Only or Full encryption method when enabling BitLocker for a volume. Administrators can use the new BitLocker Group Policy setting to enforce either Used Disk Space Only or Full disk encryption.

Launching the BitLocker Setup wizard prompts for the authentication method to be used (password and smart card are available for data volumes). Once the method is chosen and the recovery key is saved, you are asked to choose the drive encryption type, either Used Disk Space Only or Full drive encryption.

Used Disk Space Only means that only the portion of the drive that contains data will be encrypted, unused space will remain unencrypted. This causes the encryption process to be much faster, especially for new PCs and data drives. When BitLocker is enabled with this method as data is added to the drive the portion of the drive used will be encrypted, so there is never unencrypted data stored on the drive.

Full drive encryption means that the entire drive will be encrypted, regardless of whether data is stored on it or not. This is useful for drives that have been repurposed and may contain data remnants from their previous use.

Active Directory Domain Services considerations

BitLocker integrates with Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) to provide centralized key management. By default, no recovery information is backed up to Active Directory. Administrators can configure the following Group Policy setting for each drive type to enable backup of BitLocker recovery information:

Computer ConfigurationAdministrative TemplatesWindows ComponentsBitLocker Drive Encryptiondrive typeChoose how BitLocker protected drives can be recovered.

By default, only Domain Admins have access to BitLocker recovery information, but access can be delegated to others.

The following recovery data is saved for each computer object:

• Recovery password

  A 48-digit recovery password used to recover a BitLocker-protected volume. Users enter this password to unlock a volume when BitLocker enters recovery mode.

• Key package data

  With this key package and the recovery password, you will be able decrypt portions of a BitLocker-protected volume if the disk is severely damaged. Each key package will only work with the volume it was created on, which can be identified by the corresponding volume ID.

FIPS support for recovery password protector

Functionality introduced in Windows Server 2012 R2 and Windows 8.1, allows BitLocker to be fully functional in FIPS mode.

Note

The United States Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) defines security and interoperability requirements for computer systems that are used by the U.S. federal government. The FIPS 140 standard defines approved cryptographic algorithms. The FIPS 140 standard also sets forth requirements for key generation and for key management. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) uses the Cryptographic Module Validation Program (CMVP) to determine whether a particular implementation of a cryptographic algorithm is compliant with the FIPS 140 standard. An implementation of a cryptographic algorithm is considered FIPS 140-compliant only if it has been submitted for and has passed NIST validation. An algorithm that has not been submitted cannot be considered FIPS-compliant even if the implementation produces identical data as a validated implementation of the same algorithm.

Prior to these supported versions of Windows, when Windows was in FIPS mode, BitLocker prevented the creation or use of recovery passwords and instead forced the user to use recovery keys. For more information about these issues, see the support article kb947249.

But on computers running these supported systems with BitLocker enabled:

• FIPS-compliant recovery password protectors can be created when Windows is in FIPS mode. These protectors use the FIPS 140 NIST SP800-132 algorithm.
• Recovery passwords created in FIPS mode on Windows 8.1 can be distinguished from recovery passwords created on other systems.
• Recovery unlock using the FIPS-compliant algorithm based recovery password protector work in all cases that currently work for recovery passwords.
• When FIPS-compliant recovery passwords unlock volumes, the volume is unlocked to allow read/write access even while in FIPS mode.
• FIPS-compliant recovery password protectors can be exported and stored in AD a while in FIPS mode.

The BitLocker Group Policy settings for recovery passwords work the same for all Windows versions that support BitLocker, whether in FIPs mode or not.

However, you cannot use recovery passwords generated on a system in FIPS mode for systems earlier than Windows Server 2012 R2 and Windows 8.1. Recovery passwords created on Windows Server 2012 R2 and Windows 8.1 are incompatible with BitLocker on operating systems prior to Windows Server 2012 R2 and Windows 8.1; so recovery keys should be used instead.

More information

How Does Your Organization Currently Generate Encryption Keys In Word

The Encrypting File System (EFS) is the built-in encryption tool in Windows, it can be used to encrypt your file, folders and even drives to help keep your data secure and prevent other user accounts from being able to gain access to it. This is a guide on how to back up encryption certificate and key in Windows 10.

How Does Your Organization Currently Generate Encryption Keys 2017

Creating a backup of your file encryption certificate and key can help you avoid permanently losing access to your encrypted files and folders if the original certificate and key are lost or corrupted.

3 methods to back up EFS File Encryption Certificate(s) and Key(s):

Backup Current Encryption Certificate and Key from EFS Notification or Icon

The Encrypt files system feature in Windows locks and encodes your information. After you encrypt files or folders, you will see the EFS notification and icon on the lower right corner of Desktop.

Step 1: Either click on the EFS notification or taskbar icon.

Step 2: Click on Back up now. In certificate wizard window, click on Next.

Step 3: Set a password.

Then check the Password box, enter a password, enter password again to confirm, and click on Next.

Step 4: Save backup file.

Click on the Browse button, navigate to where you want to save the backup to, enter a file name you want for the backup, click on Save, and click on Next.

Step 5: Click on Finish. When the export has successfully finished, click on OK.

How to Backup Encryption Certificate and Key in Certificates Manager

Step 1: Open Certificates Manager.

Press the Win+R keys to open Run dialog, type certmgr.msc, and click OK.

Step 2: In the left pane of certmgr, expand the Personal store, and open Certificates.

Then select all certificates for Encrypting File System, right-click these selected certificates, click on All Tasks and click on Export.

Step 3: To continue, click Next. When it comes to Export Private Key, click Yes, export the private key option.

How Does Your Organization Currently Generate Encryption Keys In Firefox

Step 4: Click Next, then check the Password box, set a password. Click Next.

Step 5: Save the backup file, then you are done the export process.

How to Backup Encryption Certificate and Key in Command Prompt

Use the option, your EFS certificate can be backed up easily and quickly.

How Does Your Organization Currently Generate Encryption Keys In Windows 10

Step 1: Open a Command Prompt.

Press Windows logo + X keys, click Command Prompt from the result menu.

Step 2: In the command prompt windows, enter command below, and press Enter.

cipher /x '%UserProfile%DesktopMyEFSCertificates'

Step 3: Click OK to confirm to back up your encryption key and certificate.

Step 4: Type a password to protect the backup file, and retype the password to confirm.

Step 5: When your EFS certificate has been backed up successfully. You can see a MyEFSCertificates.PFX file on your desktop. This is the backup of your current file encryption certificate and key.

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