One of the challenges posed by Vista to traditional forensic analysis is the use of BitLocker to encrypt data on the hard drive. However, this really isn't any different from other similar technologies such as PGP, etc., that already allow encryption of files, partitions, or drives.

The response to encountering active drive encryption, particularly when dealing with an uncooperative suspect, should be to acquire a live image of the system hard drive, as in many cases, powering off the system and removing the hard drive may result in encrypted data being imaged, and until we get some kind of instantaneous image translation technology, that would be a "Bad Thing" for analysts.

So, when approaching a system, how does one tell whether or not there's any drive encryption in use? Well, Hogfly wrote an excellent WMI VBS script for detecting BitLocker. Using Perl, you could implement this script and then "compile" it into a standalone EXE and run it from a CD prior to imaging.

At this point, all we'd need to do is come up with other "signatures" for drive encryption that we can look for. Using a checklist of visible references to look for on the screen, and combining that with a small applet that would be run from a CD and tell the responder (ie, LEO, etc.) if drive encryption was active and in-use, would likely be the best approach.

Thoughts?