BitLocker looks cooked, but don't panic (yet)

Security researchers discovered a BitLocker vulnerability called'YellowKey' that allows encryption bypass using a USB drive and system reboot. PCWorld notes that while concerning, most stolen laptops are typically wiped rather than exploited for data extraction. Microsoft recommends enabling startup PIN protection and released interim security fixes to mitigate the vulnerability risks. Back in May, we learned that security researchers found a vulnerability in Windows' BitLocker encryption system. This vulnerability enabled bad actors to completely bypass the encryption if they got their hands on your PC long enough to plug in a USB drive and reboot the machine. The exploit, codenamed YellowKey, is a glaring weakness in an encryption system that's been built into Windows since the days of Vista. Microsoft has since published guidance on how to guard against the exploit (in short, make sure you use a PIN) as well as an interim security fix while it works on a more permanent solution, but for the moment BitLocker seems cooked. If you use BitLocker, you should know about this, but you shouldn't necessarily stop using it--yet.