What Are the Risks in Using Bitlocker to Secure Your System and How Can You Mitigate These Risks?
When highly sensitive information, such as customer or otherwise work-related data, is handled with a laptop or desktop calculator, information security should exist on height of every business owner's mind. Especially laptops are vulnerable to security risks due to their mobile nature. When a laptop gets lost or stolen, data breaches tin become plush.
"Compared to hacking a secure network, it is much easier to download information from an unencrypted or unprotected laptop. This is a reality a lot of business owners and IT professionals fail to realize."
Security Boulevard
At that place are multiple reasons for protecting laptops and the information in them, and luckily, there are diverse means to mitigate security risks. 1 powerful tool is total disk encryption. Total disk encryption is a data protection method, which transforms data in a storage medium into a secret format that tin exist only understood by people or systems who are immune to access the data.
In this article, we hash out unlike data encryption methods and why drive encryption makes sense. We also reveal a smart fashion to enable drive encryption on your Microsoft Windows or Apple macOS devices.
Topics to be covered in this article:
- What is hard drive encryption
- What is BitLocker
- What is FileVault
- Should I employ FileVault or BitLocker
- How to enable BitLocker
- How to enable FileVault
- All-time practices for drive encryption
What is hard bulldoze encryption or full disk encryption?
Essentially, encryption refers to the process of encoding data. In disk encryption, this ways that information on your reckoner's difficult drive is transformed from plaintext to ciphertext, which makes the original data unreadable.
Hard drive encryption uses a specific algorithm, or naught, to catechumen a physical deejay or logical volume into an unreadable format that cannot exist unlocked by anyone without the secret key or password that was used to encrypt the drive. This prevents unauthorized people or hackers from accessing the information.
At that place are ii main computer encryption types: full disk encryption and file-level encryption.
- Full Disk Encryption (FDE) or whole deejay encryption protects the entire book and all files on the drive against unauthorized access.
- In contrast to FDE, File-Level Encryption (FLE) is an encryption method, which takes place on the file system level, enabling the encryption of data in private files and directories.
Total Disk Encryption and File-Level Encryption are not mutually exclusive. In fact, they can be used simultaneously to achieve college security every bit they serve different purposes, merely that's a topic on its own.
Modern versions of Windows and macOS have born encryption programs: BitLocker for Windows and FileVault for macOS. There are also a few open-source products for encryption, such as VeraCrypt, AxCrypt, and Gpg4win.
What is BitLocker?
BitLocker is Microsoft'due south full deejay encryption feature that is commonly included in Windows versions that are oriented towards professional, business organization, or organizational use. With the BitLocker drive encryption, you tin encrypt the unabridged operating system drive and/or other drives mounted to your Windows PCs.
BitLocker is designed to work best with a Trusted Platform Module (TPM) that stores the disk encryption primal. TPM is a secure cryptoprocessor that checks whether the encrypted data is being accessed with the correct device. Disk encryption on newer Windows Os versions is strongly based on TPM but a USB startup key tin can as well be used to access the encrypted data. However, it is not equally popular.
The starting time BitLocker encryption unremarkably takes some hours to complete depending on the drive features, merely afterward that, the user experience is more than or less transparent. All information on the protected drives is stored in an encrypted form while the computer is locked or turned off, simply when the user unlocks the system with their Windows login credentials, everything works similarly like in an unencrypted system. Any new files volition be encrypted automatically on the fly.
BitLocker is included in Windows 7 (Enterprise and Ultimate) and the Pro, Enterprise, and Education editions of Windows 8.ane and Windows 10. If your operating organization version supports BitLocker, you can enable information technology easily on your computer. But if you need to enforce bulldoze encryption to multiple Windows devices, it'south wise to employ a UEM software, like Miradore.
What is FileVault?
FileVault is a full deejay encryption feature from Apple tree built into the Macintosh operating system (macOS). FileVault is supported in Mac OS Ten 10.three later, and information technology provides strong encryption for files and data on Mac computers, protecting the entire drive and all of the files located on the drive — but like BitLocker for Windows. When enabled, FileVault works silently in the groundwork, encrypting all device information on the wing without disruptions.
But like with BitLocker, you don't need an boosted password to utilise your files. Merely type in your user ID and password when logging in to your computer and you lot're skillful to go. Even so, to recover the encrypted information, yous need a FileVault recovery key that is created when yous enable FileVault for the starting time time.
If you are responsible for managing multiple Mac computers, you can hands enforce drive encryption as a mass deployment with Miradore.
Should I use FileVault or BitLocker disk encryption?
If you need to access sensitive information, such as medical records, customer data, or credit card information, on your computer, using FileVault and BitLocker is smart. It'southward fairly easy to enforce and unproblematic for end-users as they don't have to worry near saving their files in a certain folder.
If you demand to admission sensitive information, such every bit medical records, customer data, or credit card information, on your estimator, using FileVault and BitLocker is smart.
I of the main advantages of the total disk encryption technologies is the total automation they provide. Later the activation of BitLocker or FileVault, these encryption methods will work on their own encrypting everything on the fly. Device users exercise not even take to think near the encryption e'er once again.
If a laptop is ever lost, stolen, or decommissioned inappropriately, the odds are that the data will remain safe even and then, considering encrypted drives are extremely difficult to access without knowing the decryption central. This is non the case with unprotected drives, to which the assailant may proceeds access, merely by attaching them to some other computer.
Total disk encryption is a great way to protect sensitive customer data.
In improver, today'southward companies need to adhere to data protection regulations and policies, such as GDPR, HIPAA, and CJIS, and full disk encryption is a swell manner to protect sensitive customer data.
Drawbacks of deejay encryption
Although information technology may seem a no-brainer to use encryption, many organizations nevertheless hesitate to implement disk encryption for different reasons. There may exist, for example, dubiety about how to implement the encryption wisely or concerns about what challenges the encryption could crusade for data recovery if a estimator breaks down or the user forgets his login countersign.
"Who has the fourth dimension and competence to enable encryption?"
"How can we see which drives are or aren't encrypted?"
"Who should store the recovery keys and where?"
The questions above are examples of valid concerns that may tiresome downwardly the adoption of disk encryption. Luckily, all of them tin exist easily addressed with the correct tools, like Miradore.
Also, some might exist concerned well-nigh how drive encryption affects the computer'southward operation but with modern Windows computers and Mac, there is no noticeable alter.
How to enable BitLocker encryption?
Enabling BitLocker manually is actually quite straightforward and piece of cake if your Windows computer is running the right operating organization version. The device user can enable BitLocker disk encryption in Windows File Explorer past right-clicking on a drive and then choosing "Turn on BitLocker". After that, the user is asked to choose how they desire to preserve the BitLocker recovery primal. Keeping the recovery primal in a safe identify is essential every bit yous demand it to unlock your deejay.
Sounds simple but gets complex quickly if dozens or hundreds of users need to be instructed through the implementation stride-by-stride and if there is no centralized way for storing the recovery keys.
This is where Miradore steps in.
Miradore makes it easy to enable BitLocker on all of your Windows devices. You tin create a Configuration Profile, which defines the desired settings for BitLocker encryption. You but need to choose whether you want to encrypt the arrangement drive or all fixed drives of a computer – and that's information technology. If you want, you can likewise cull the preferred encryption style.
Creating a Configuration Profile for drive encryption in Miradore
You can then deploy the configuration profile remotely to as many Windows computers as you like and Miradore works its magic to enable the BitLocker.
Deploying the created Configuration Profile to multiple Windows computers
Miradore applies exactly the same encryption settings tirelessly to all computers without the adventure of a human error and what's best: information technology stores the recovery keys from all devices automatically in i identify – to your Miradore site. You can rest bodacious knowing that device users practice non need to carp you with questions and the recovery keys are stored appropriately. Other users than administrators cannot encounter the stored recovery keys on your Miradore site.
Miradore stores BitLocker recovery keys in one identify
What's more, Miradore shows you which drives on your Miradore managed computers are protected with BitLocker, which makes it easy to follow-upwards the disk encryption condition of your Windows devices.
View the BitLocker encryption condition of your Windows devices
You can also add the BitLocker encryption configuration contour as part of a Business Policy which enables the automation of device setups.
How to enable FileVault disk encryption?
Enabling FileVault disk encryption works quite similarly to enabling BitLocker. In System Preferences, click Security & Privacy, go to the FileVault tab, and click the Lock button. After inbound your admin name and password, you tin can turn on FileVault.
Miradore supports FileVault disk encryption for macOS x.9 and newer devices. The implementation procedure follows the same lines as for the BitLocker with a few exceptions. You lot can enable FileVault to your Mac devices by creating a Configuration Profile that defines the right settings for encryption and deploy that configuration profile remotely to multiple Macs. With Miradore's dashboard widget, y'all can view the FileVault drive encryption status of your device fleet.
View the FileVault encryption status of your Mac computers
With FileVault, you can choose whether you want to apply personal, institutional, or both types of recovery keys for unlocking the encryption. The personal recovery cardinal is always device-specific, and it volition be generated automatically at the target device when enabling the encryption. The device's user is responsible for writing down and storing the personal recovery key. The institutional central, on the other hand, is intended for organizations to unlock encrypted drives. As said, information technology is too possible to use both key types which ways an encrypted drive could be unlocked using the correct personal or institutional key.
All-time practices for drive encryption
A few things should be remembered when planning full deejay encryption:
- Back upwardly your files: Make sure to back up your files before encryption and regularly subsequently the encryption has been enabled. This ensures that yous can recover your files quickly if something happens to your difficult drive.
- Employ a potent passcode: As the Windows and Mac login credentials are used to admission the encrypted files and documents, make sure to employ a strong passcode that includes both letters and numbers.
- Go along your recovery key in a prophylactic identify: If you forget your password, a recovery primal is the simply way to access the encrypted data. Thus, information technology's important to shop your recovery key in a secure place. You tin can for example apply a countersign manager or Miradore.
Summary
Birthday, drive encryption is a very powerful data protection method, which is relatively easy to implement with proper tools.
The employ of BitLocker and FileVault can step upward the data security of any organization where Windows and Mac devices are used to process and shop whatever kind of valuable or sensitive data like customer information, credit carte du jour details, or employee information. With Miradore's Premium plan, you can easily enable BitLocker and FileVault to all your system's devices remotely.
If you're responsible for ensuring data security in your organization, you can examination Miradore'due south Premium plan for gratuitous for 14 days. If you want to know more near disk encryption or Miradore'southward capabilities, don't hesitate to reach out to us!
Source: https://www.miradore.com/blog/hard-drive-encryption-full-disk-encryption/
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