BitLocker™ Drive Encryption

An exciting new frontier in hardware-based security is being unleashed in Windows Vista. BitLocker™ Drive Encryption promises to provide stronger data protection by attaching a microchip to the motherboard. The microchip, called Trusted Platform Module (TPM), contains passwords, digital certificates, keys and other vital security information. Due to the manner in which BitLocker™ encrypts and unlocks data, Microsoft feels this will ensure your computer is even protected while offline, lost or if it’s stolen. One of the neat things about TPM is that is relies totally on hardware to provide software encryption/decryption. Because it does not rely on the operating system, and rather its own internal circuitry, it is not vulnerable to software attacks.

An interesting side note: According to an article I read at PCWorld TPM theoretically could be used in some pretty nefarious ways to circumvent the long arm of the law gaining access to your PC. Considering that we often see news footage of PC’s being carted away to aid the prosecution, this technology could prove to be quite a bump in the road. Do I hear a Justice Department review getting started already?

For those of you who are already running Vista, you can enable BitLocker™ Drive Encryption even without the TPM. I must warn you, this is not for the light-hearted. It can render your machine unusable if done incorrectly. So kids, don’t try this at home. And the rest of you, if you must, do this on a test machine. For the complete set of instructions, check out this site.