Details
This policy setting allows you to control how BitLocker-protected removable data drives are recovered in the absence of the required credentials. This policy setting is applied when you turn on BitLocker.
Select the ‘Do not enable BitLocker until recovery information is stored in AD DS for removable data drives’ check box if you want to prevent users from enabling BitLocker unless the computer is connected to the domain and the backup of BitLocker recovery information to AD DS succeeds.
Note: If the ‘Do not enable BitLocker until recovery information is stored in AD DS for removable data drives’ check box is selected, a recovery password is automatically generated.
The recommended state for this setting is: Enabled: False (unchecked).
Rationale:
Administrators should always have a safe, secure way to access encrypted data in the event users cannot access their data.
Additionally, as with any authentication method, a drive can be compromised by guessing or finding the authentication information used to access the drive.
To use BitLocker a Data Recovery Agent will need to be configured for removable drives. To recover a drive will require highly-controlled access to the Data Recovery Agent private key.
Solution
To establish the recommended configuration via GP, set the following UI path to Enabled: False (unchecked):
Computer ConfigurationPoliciesAdministrative TemplatesWindows ComponentsBitLocker Drive EncryptionRemovable Data DrivesChoose how BitLocker-protected removable drives can be recovered: Do not enable BitLocker until recovery information is stored to AD DS for removable data drives
Note: This Group Policy path may not exist by default. It is provided by the Group Policy template VolumeEncryption.admx/adml that is included with the Microsoft Windows 7 & Server 2008 R2 Administrative Templates (or newer).
Impact:
None – this is the default behavior.
Default Value:
BitLocker can be enabled on removable drives without the requirement of storing recovery information to Active Directory first.
Supportive Information
The following resource is also helpful.
This security hardening control applies to the following category of controls within NIST 800-53: Access Control, Contingency Planning.This control applies to the following type of system Windows.