Sysctl has been working on a new minor release for some time, and with the upcoming release, Impex version 2.1.0, we have some interesting features we are proud to reveal.
The Impex 2.1.0 release brings support for Bitlocker, the technology that Microsoft developed, starting with Windows 8, to protect data on disk drives using encryption. Our implementation supports Bitlocker To Go, the variant for removable data drives, thus the different types of usb devices normally used with Impex.
Our implementation of Bitlocker comes with
- Bitlocker-legacy support
- Bitlocker-aes-xts support
With the new Bitlocker feature, Impex now supports hardware-based, as well as software-based, encrypted USB devices.
Starting with version 2.1.0 Impex allows Bitlocker protected devices to be unlocked and scanned when attached to an Impex station. To unlock the device, the Impex user needs to provide the password using the touch screen. Once a Bitlocker device has been unlocked, it will be mounted in the system and is available as any other filesystem that we support.
Bitlocker devices can also be used as target devices, and a user will be prompted for a password for that device. It will also work with use cases where both the source and the target are Bitlocker devices. The Impex user will then be prompted twice for passwords, once for each device.
Other small fixes will be included in the upcoming 2.1.0 release as well. These will be covered in the release notes that will be made available on the date of the 2.1.0 release, 2020-11-23
More information on the Bitlocker encryption can be found at Microsoft Bitlocker documentation pages