BitLocker to Go, drive encryption built into Windows 7 Ultimate that helps protect sensitive data on USB storage devices, may not as safe as you think.

Mountain View, CA based Passware, Inc., today announced that the latest version of its Passware Kit Forensic 10.1 software suite allows for cracking of BitLocker To Go USB Disks. The company claims that their software can decrypt BitLocker To Go thumb drives in less than 20 minutes.

Passware's BitLocker decryption capabilities, first introduced in November 2009, support all types of hard disk images, including raw image files, images created with Guidance EnCase or any other forensic tool. "This enhanced solution for computer forensics allows the entire memory capture and decryption process to take no more than 40 minutes regardless of the complexity of the password," said Dmitry Sumin, president of Passware, Inc.

This solution includes live target memory acquisition and BitLocker encryption key recovery that allows computer forensics to gain easily full access to the contents of the encrypted USB disk. Passware Kit Forensic now also supports BitLocker To Go images saved as Virtual Hard Disks (VHD) – a format that allows attaching BitLocker hard disks in Windows 7 and Server 2008 without using any third-party disk mounting tools.

Andy Malone, Microsoft MVP, CEO of Quality Training Ltd and founder of both the Dive Deeper Technology and Cybercrime Security events, comments on the product: "For a bad guy who thinks that all his dirty secrets are safe. He can just simply encrypt hard disks and thumb drives, right? Wrong!! Passware has managed to include the tools to perform a live memory capture and thus reveal the encryption key stored in RAM. ...I can confirm I can crack BitLocker!"

Passware Kit Forensic edition recovers passwords for over 180 file types and can scan drives and networks for password-protected files. While other similar tools are often available as part of open source cracking toolkits, this is a commercial product, readily available and easily to use. Pricing for Passware Kit Forensic starts at $795 for a single user license.