Windows Encryption - All too easy workaround?

From: AberTech (abertech_at_hotmail.com)
Date: 03/11/05 

Date: Fri, 11 Mar 2005 20:19:10 -0000

I have recently been looking into using the encryption tool in WinXP Pro for
added privacy/security. Then someone at work told me about a bootable CD
from winternals.com(?) called Super Acronis or Locksmith which allows you to
change the password for any user on that machine. A reboot later and you
can log on to that account - including Administrator with the new password.
As it is the account that your files were encrypted with, anyone who did
this would automatically be granted access to the encrypted files. They
even give you a 5 day working demo available for free!

On looking at this NG I can see recent posts 'Forgotton Logon password'
which also cover this.

If this is so easy to do, it made wonder if there is much point in using
Windows' encryption? Is the purchase of 3rd party software necessary to
ensure that files can be made secure/private?

Relevant Pages

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