Microsoft Just Gave the FBI Your Encryption Keys. Here's Why Kiteworks Customers Don't Lose Sleep Over That.

The first confirmed case of Microsoft handing over BitLocker keys to law enforcement proves what we've been saying all along: If your provider holds your encryption keys, your data isn't really yours.

Let’s start with a simple truth.

When you use Kiteworks, we can’t access your data. Not “we promise not to.” Not “we have policies against it.” We literally cannot access it—even if the FBI shows up with a warrant, a judge’s order, and a battering ram.

Why? Because Kiteworks never holds your encryption keys. You do. Always.

This isn’t a premium feature. It’s not buried in settings. It’s how the entire platform is architected. Customer-controlled encryption means exactly what it sounds like: You control the keys, period.

Last week, Microsoft reminded everyone why this matters.

Microsoft’s Encryption Keys? The FBI Has Them Now.

Forbes broke the news that Microsoft handed over BitLocker encryption keys to the FBI in a Guam fraud investigation. Three laptops. Fully encrypted. Supposedly secure.

The FBI seized them in early 2025. For six months, investigators hit a wall—BitLocker’s encryption held. Then they got a warrant compelling Microsoft to turn over the recovery keys.

Microsoft complied. Case closed. Drives decrypted.

This is the first publicly confirmed case of Microsoft surrendering encryption keys to law enforcement. But here’s what should really concern you: Microsoft admits they get about 20 of these requests every year. They’ve been handing over keys all along. We just didn’t know.

Dirty Secret Behind “Encrypted” Windows PCs

When you set up BitLocker with a Microsoft account, your recovery keys automatically upload to Microsoft’s cloud. It’s the default behavior. Most users have no idea it’s happening.

Microsoft calls this “convenience.” If you forget your password, you can recover your data. Helpful, right?

Here’s what that convenience means: Microsoft holds a master key to your encrypted drives. When law enforcement asks nicely—with a warrant—Microsoft hands it over.

Matthew Green, cryptography professor at Johns Hopkins, didn’t mince words: “This is private data on a private computer, and they made an architectural choice to hold access to that data.”

Apple doesn’t work this way. Their Advanced Data Protection encrypts keys so even Apple can’t access them. Google does the same. Microsoft made a different choice—one where your “encryption” is only as strong as their legal department’s willingness to fight a warrant.

Spoiler: They don’t fight.

Why Defense Contractors Should Be Rethinking Everything

If you handle controlled unclassified information (CUI) for DoD contracts, this isn’t just a privacy story. It’s a compliance earthquake.

CMMC 2.0 exists to protect sensitive defense data. The framework’s 110 controls for Level 2 certification assume one thing above all else: Only authorized parties can access your CUI.

But if Microsoft holds your encryption keys, and Microsoft hands them over on request, who really controls access to your defense data?

Senator Ron Wyden called it “simply irresponsible” for tech companies to ship products that let them surrender encryption keys. He warned that agencies beyond the FBI—including ICE—could secretly obtain keys to access users’ entire digital lives.

Jennifer Granick from the ACLU raised another scenario: foreign governments with poor human rights records requesting the same data through legal channels.

Your CUI. Protected by keys Microsoft holds. Potentially accessible to any government with a valid legal request.

Still confident in your CMMC compliance?

The GCC High Mirage

Defense contractors who migrated to Microsoft GCC High thinking they solved this problem? Think again.

GCC High is FedRAMP High authorized. It’s designed for government contractors. But FedRAMP authorization doesn’t mean Microsoft can’t access your data. It doesn’t protect your encryption keys from warrants. And it doesn’t make you CMMC compliant automatically.

GCC High covers a fraction of the 110 CMMC Level 2 controls. You still need months of configuration. You still need expensive consultants. Organizations report spending $300,000 to over $1 million on migrations.

After all that expense and effort? Microsoft still holds your keys.

Why Kiteworks Is Different—By Design

Kiteworks was built on a different philosophy: True data sovereignty means the provider cannot access your data. Ever. Under any circumstances.

Customer-controlled encryption keys. Single-tenant architecture where you’re not sharing infrastructure with anyone. On-premises and air-gapped deployment options for the most sensitive environments. Nearly 90% of CMMC 2.0 Level 2 controls supported out of the box.

Deploy in days, not months. No army of consultants required. And most importantly—when the FBI comes knocking, there’s nothing for us to hand over.

Major defense contractors like General Dynamics IT and MITRE made this choice after evaluating GCC High. They understood something the Microsoft BitLocker story just proved to everyone else: Encryption without key control is theater.

Choice Is Now Obvious

Microsoft made their architectural choice years ago. Convenience over sovereignty. Key escrow over true encryption. They’ve been handing over keys 20 times a year while marketing BitLocker as security.

The Guam case just made it public.

For defense contractors handling CUI, the question is binary: Do you want your compliance to depend on a company that surrenders encryption keys on request? Or do you want a platform where surrendering keys is technically impossible?

Kiteworks exists because we believe your data should be yours. Not ours. Not the government’s. Yours.

Microsoft just reminded everyone why that matters.

Your encryption keys. Your control. Your choice.