WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF
In time we’re going to be able to break most of today’s encryption systems using quantum computers, but in this case a humble Raspberry Pi did it …
Love the Exponential Future? Join our XPotential Community, future proof yourself with courses from XPotential University, read about exponential tech and trends, connect, watch a keynote, or browse my blog.
While we talk about quantum computers being able to crack 70% of all global encryption systems in the future back in the here and now we’ve just seen Bitlocker cracked. And in record time. And if you haven’t heard of Bitlocker then it’s a popular kind of encryption used by the Windows OS to improve data security by protecting system files and personal data using the AES encryption algorithm. Basically, it’s an important measure for people who need additional security, enabling PC users to safely encrypt and protect data from potential attackers. However, new research shows that it can be easily cracked using inexpensive, off-the-shelf hardware.
In a YouTube video, security researcher Stacksmashing demonstrated that hackers can extract the BitLocker encryption key from Windows PCs in just 43 seconds using a $4 Raspberry Pi Pico. According to the researcher, targeted attacks can bypass BitLocker’s encryption by directly accessing the hardware and extracting the encryption keys stored in the computer’s Trusted Platform Module (TPM) via the LPC bus.
The Future of Cyber Keynote, by Futurist Matthew Griffin
The attack was possible due to a design flaw found in devices with dedicated TPMs, like modern laptops and desktops. As explained by the researcher, BitLocker sometimes uses external TPMs to store key information, such as the Platform Configuration Registers and Volume Master Key. However, as it turns out, the communication lanes (LPC bus) between the CPU and external TPM remain unencrypted on boot-up, allowing threat actors to sniff any traffic between the two modules and extract the encryption keys.
To carry out his proof-of-concept attack, Stacksmashing used a ten-year-old laptop with BitLocker encryption and then programmed the Raspberry Pi Pico to read the raw binary code from the TPM to gain access to the Volume Master Key. Thereafter, he used Dislocker with the recently-acquired Volume Master Key to decrypt the drive.
See how they did it
It is worth noting that this is not the first time we’re hearing about somebody bypassing BitLocker encryption. Last year, cybersecurity researcher Guillaume Quéré demonstrated how the BitLocker full volume encryption system can allow users to eavesdrop on any traffic between the discrete TPM chip and CPU via an SPI bus. However, Microsoft claimed that defeating BitLocker encryption is a long and cumbersome process that requires lengthy access to the hardware.
This latest development has now shown that BitLocker can be bypassed much more easily than previously thought, and raises pertinent questions about existing encryption methodologies. It remains to be seen whether Microsoft will root out this particular vulnerability from BitLocker, but in the long run, security researchers need to do a better job of identifying and fixing potential security loopholes before they become a problem for users.
