Windows 7: Bitlocker Drive Encryption

Bitlocker was hyped a lot in Windows Vista and it appears here as well.

It was meant to prevent unauthorized access to your hard drives by "locking" the information from unauthorized eyes.. It's back in Windows 7.

My primary method of transferring data is to use one of the half dozen or so USB sticks I carry around in my backpack. Over time, these USB sticks end up with all sorts of different data and documents on them.

As a security guy, I worry about what would happen if I lost one of these USB sticks. What if I have some confidential or customer data on one of them?

Windows 7 helps address the continued threat of data leakage with introduction of BitLocker To Go: an extension to BitLocker in Windows Vista that allows me to encrypt the disk volume of removable storage devices with a password and/or a digital certificate stored on a smart card.

BitLocker To Go was designed to facilitate the secure sharing of data on removable storage devices and was designed to work on any standard removable storage device. No special, proprietary hardware is required.

So now, whether you are traveling with your laptop, sharing large files with a trusted partner, or taking work home, you can feel secure that your data is safe. Both traditional BitLocker and BitLocker To Go protected devices help ensure that only authorized users can read the data, even if the media is lost, stolen, or misused.