Passware Kit Forensic ($795) Decrypts TrueCrypt HDDs

Privately-held corporation with headquarters in Mountain View, Calif. and a software development and engineering office in Moscow, Russia, Passware, Inc., provider of password recovery, decryption, and evidence discovery software for computer forensics, announced that the latest version of its flagship product, Passware Kit Forensic, has become the first commercially available software to break TrueCrypt hard drive encryption without applying a time-consuming brute-force attack. It was also the first product to decrypt BitLocker drives.

Long believed unbreakable, TrueCrypt is a free open-source full-disk encryption software for Windows 7/Vista/XP, Mac OS X and Linux, that creates virtual hard disks with real-time encryption.

In response to customer requests, especially from law enforcement organizations, Passware has enhanced Passware Kit Forensic to allow for memory acquisition of a seized computer over FireWire port, even if the computer is locked. When a target computer is seized and turned on with the encryption disk accessible, the software scans its memory image and extracts the encryption keys, so law enforcement personnel can access the stored data.

"Our law enforcement customers requested decryption of TrueCrypt disks, and we developed a practical and effective method for quickly obtaining encrypted data," said Dmitry Sumin, president of Passware, Inc. "We are proud to be the first to market with a solution that empowers police, law enforcement officials and private investigators to bypass both BitLocker and now TrueCrypt encryption of seized computers."

A Practical Means for Extracting Encrypted Data
Passware Kit Forensic 9.7 is a complete encrypted evidence discovery solution that reports all password-protected items on a computer and gains access to these items using the advanced decryption and password recovery algorithms. The software, which can also run in portable mode from a USB drive, is capable of finding encrypted data and recovering file and website passwords without making any changes to the target computer.

Passware Kit Forensic 9.7 supports over 180 different file types and features recovery of passwords for PGP archives and virtual disks. The software supports Windows 7, Vista, 2003, XP, and 2008 Server, and now works with Guidance EnCase E01 disk image files – the de-facto standard for computer forensics.

Pricing and Availability
Passware Kit Forensic 9.7 is now available from Passware and an expanded network of resellers in the U.S., Europe and Asia, including Germany, Russia, Japan and China. Manufacturer’s suggested list price starts at $795. The software comes with one year of free software updates. Free trial licenses are also available.