SoC

Microsoft is enhancing Windows 11 with hardware-accelerated BitLocker to improve security and performance, particularly for resource-intensive tasks like gaming and video editing. BitLocker, which encrypts sensitive data, traditionally relied on the Trusted Platform Module (TPM) for managing encryption keys. With advancements in NVMe storage technology, Microsoft is now using system-on-a-chip (SoC) components with hardware security modules (HSMs) and trusted execution environments (TEEs) to offload cryptographic operations, leading to improved performance and reduced CPU usage. Devices supporting NVMe drives and crypto offload-capable SoCs will automatically use hardware-accelerated BitLocker with the XTS-AES-256 algorithm. This update applies to various encryption scenarios, and hardware-accelerated BitLocker has shown a reduction in CPU cycles by approximately 70% compared to software-based versions. The new implementation also enhances security by using hardware-protected keys, minimizing the risk of cyberattacks targeting CPU and memory. The updated BitLocker feature is available with Windows 11 24H2, following the September updates, and will also be included in Windows 11 25H2. Initial support is rolling out with Intel vPro systems featuring Intel Core Ultra Series 3 processors, with plans to expand to other SoC vendors. Users can check their BitLocker mode by executing the command manage-bde -status. If unsupported configurations are detected, BitLocker will revert to software-based mode.