Ring! Ring!

Me: I.T. Department.  This is Daniel.   How can I help you, today? 

Caller: Hi.  I’ve got this laptop from my employer and I want to be able to log into it. 

Me: What do you mean? 

Caller: I have this laptop.  My employer gifted it to me, when I was laid off.  I want to be able to log into it.  It’s asking me for an encryption key.   Bit something or other.   Can you help me with that? 

Me: BitLocker? 

Caller: Yeah!  That’s it!  I need to be able to get to the information on the disk.  Like my resume, so I can find another job. 

Me: I’m sorry, but no.  I can’t do that.  BitLocker was created to prevent exactly what you are asking for. 

Caller: Can you try? 

Me: I could.  And I could charge you for the time to try.  But I would fail and you would be angry that you paid me for my time and did not get what you wanted for that money. 

Caller:  Oh.  Yeah. I would be.  But is it possible? 

Me: Maybe. It would be easier to get the encryption key from the Office365 account your employer may have had you on.   Do you still have access to that? 

Caller: No.  They locked me out of everything. 

Me: I understand.  I’m sorry I can not help you recover your data.  However, if you need the help, I can probably provide you a fresh install of Windows on the machine and make it usable for you. 

Caller: I can boot in recovery mode and do that, but I appreciate the offer.   But there is no way to get around this encryption? 

Me: Not really.  At least not without some help from your former employer. 

Caller: Yeah.  That’s not going to happen.  They really don’t know I have it. 

Me: I thought you said it was gifted to you, when you were laid off? 

Caller: Oh.  Yeah.  Well, it was.  They just did not know they gifted me the VP’s laptop. 

Me: OK.  Thanks for calling.  I do not wish to be a part of this.  I do not deal with stolen hardware or helping people circumvent security.     

Caller: Coward. 

Me: Yeap!   Exactly!  I don’t want to go to prison or get into trouble, just because you asked for computer help.   Good bye.   <click> 

Lesson Learned

When you own a small business and have to terminate an employee for whatever reason, make sure all property of yours is turned in. This includes computers, phones, tablets, cameras, et al. If you decide to gift that hardware to the employee, have your IT Department clear all company intellectual property from the device and reset it to factory standards. This protects you and prevents a disgruntled employee from trying to leverage anything they may find.

– Shawna