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   Thanks to NASA, ESA-Hubble Collaboration for permission to use Photo. 

One of the security weaknesses experienced with laptops and other portable computer devices for many years is the simplicity in which their drives could be compromised if the device is stolen.  This was especially true before Windows XP and Windows 2000 when a thief could simply install a second operating system on the laptop, logon to the new operating system and gain admin rights to all the data on the drive. 

Windows XP and Windows 2000 introduced EFS, Encryption File System, which allowed users to encrypt files of their choosing.  Because the encryption was centered on an encryption key based upon the original operating system, an intruder couldn’t access that file simply by accessing it through another operating system.  However, this required the user to individually encrypt every file or folder in order to protect all of their data.  Needless to say, the majority of users failed to do this.   

Microsoft has introduced a new technology called BitLocker with Windows2008 and premium flavors of Windows Vista.  BitLocker encrypts the entire drive, including the Windows system files necessary for startup and logon, which could give an intruder the ability to discover passwords and logon information.  What’s more, BitLocker utilizes a feature called Integrity checking which analyzes the early boot components and helps to ensure that data decryption is performed only if those components appear unmolested and that the encrypted drive is located in the original computer.  This prevents thieves from stealing your hard drive and putting it into another computer to access the data. 

It will also make it much easier for organizations to recycle old computers as they will not have to worry about erasing data on machines being decommissioned as the drives will be inaccessible.  BitLocker is a great new addition to the Windows operating system and should be implemented by any organization or individual that works with sensitive data.

Brad Rudisail
Computer Network Technician-Network Security Instructor
Ashworth University

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 30th, 2008 at 10:56 am and is filed under Trends, Digital, Data, Security, Microsoft, IT, Reviews, Hacking, Spyware, Firewalls, Viruses, Servers, Programming, Innovation, Internet, Storage, Business, Cyberwarfare, Operating Systems, Software, Open-Source, Websites, Computing, Hardware, Management, Windows. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.