Which Password Protection Methods does BitLocker Support?

My pleasure to assist you. BitLocker offers multiple password protection methods for different scenarios. The BitLocker password is a solid barrier to BitLocker security, like a solid door to keep your data securely locked inside.

After drive encryption with BitLocker, only when entering the correct password or inserting the correct USB key can you access to the encrypted drive. BitLocker password protection methods including:

1. Through Password & Recovery Password & Recovery Key Protection

When enabling BitLocker, you’ll be prompted to set your own BitLocker password. Within the steps of BitLocker encryption procedure, it also inquires you how to store your BitLocker recovery password and recovery key which are automatically generated.

This is the most basic and commonly used method, as this BitLocker secure password combination is applicable to computers with non-TPM bases system to use password protector. These two secret keys enhance the security of BitLocker. If you forget the custom password, you can retrieve it with the help of BitLocker recovery key.

2. Through USB Startup Key Protection

USB startup key protection is an additional layer of security offered by BitLocker. With this method, you can generate a startup key and store it on a secure USB flash drive.

This USB flash drive acts as a physical token required to unlock the encrypted drive, thereby you need to plug it into computer port every time the computer boots. Without the startup key stored on USB flash drive, the encrypted drive will still remain inaccessible.

Additionally, remember to create a backup of the startup key and store it in a separate secure location to prevent data loss in case the USB flash drive is missing or damaged.

3. Through TPM Chip Protection

You can turn on BitLocker without TPM. However, when BitLocker combined with TPM, it offers maximum protection and is considered as the best password protector. If your computer has a TPM chip, you’d better enable it to protect the BitLocker encrypted drive.

More precisely, when enabling BitLocker, system will store a secret key on TPM chip. Each time the computer starts up, the system checked the chip to ensure that the computer’s hardware and BIOS configurations have not been tampered with.

Note: TPM can also be combined with a PIN code or a USB startup key. You can adjust the settings to meet your needs. To allow BitLocker to use TPM for system integrity checks, the device must have TPM 1.2 or higher version.

Conclusion

I strongly recommend using TPM for password protection, especially on TPM 2.0, for TPM 2.0 provides higher level of protection than the former. Click the hyperlink to check if your computer has TPM 2.0.