18.10.9.2.5 Ensure 'Choose how BitLocker-protected operating system drives can be recovered: Omit recovery options from the BitLocker setup wizard' is set to 'Enabled: True'

Information

This policy setting allows you to control how BitLocker-protected operating system drives are recovered in the absence of the required startup key information. This policy setting is applied when you turn on BitLocker.

Select 'Omit recovery options from the BitLocker setup wizard' to prevent users from specifying recovery options when they enable BitLocker on a drive. This means that you will not be able to specify which recovery option to use when you enable BitLocker, instead BitLocker recovery options for the drive are determined by the policy setting.

The recommended state for this setting is: Enabled: True (checked).

Rationale:

Should a user lose their primary means for accessing an encrypted OS volume, or should the system not pass its boot time integrity checks, the system will go into recovery mode. If the recovery key has not been backed up to Active Directory, the user would need to have saved the recovery key to another location such as a USB flash drive, or have printed the recovery password, and now have access to one of those in order to recovery the system. If the user is unable to produce the recovery key, then the user will be denied access to the encrypted volume and subsequently any data that is stored there.

Impact:

The ability to manually select recovery options for the operating drive will not be presented to the user in the BitLocker setup wizard.

Solution

To establish the recommended configuration, set the following Device Configuration Policy to Enabled: Omit recovery options from the BitLocker setup wizard:

To access the Device Configuration Policy from the Intune Home page:

Click Devices

Click Configuration profiles

Click Create profile

Select the platform (Windows 10 and later)

Select the profile (Administrative Templates)

Click Create

Enter a Name

Click Next

Configure the following Setting

Path: Computer Configuration/Windows Components/BitLocker Drive Encryption/Operating System Drives
Setting Name: Choose how BitLocker-protected operating system drives can be recovered
Configuration: Omit recovery options from the BitLocker setup wizard (checked)

Select OK

Continue through the Wizard to complete the creation of the profile (profile assignments, applicability etc.)

Note: More than one configuration setting from each of the Configuration profiles (ex: Administrative Templates, Custom etc.) can be added to each Device Configuration Policy.

Note #2: This recommendation can also be set using the Endpoint protection profile using Windows Encryption settings.

Default Value:

Recovery options for the operating system drive are selectable by the user in the BitLocker setup wizard.

See Also

https://workbench.cisecurity.org/benchmarks/14664