Should full disk encryption be used to prevent data loss?

To continue reading for free, register below or login

Requires Membership to View

To gain access to this and all member only content, please provide the following information (all fields required):

First Name:
Last Name:
Country: Select... Afghanistan Aland Islands Albania Algeria American Samoa Andorra Angola Anguilla Antarctica Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Armenia Aruba Australia Austria Azerbaijan Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bermuda Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana Bouvet Island Brazil British Indian Ocean Territory British Virgin Islands Brunei Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Canada Cape Verde Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad Chile China Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Colombia Comoros Congo Congo, Democratic Republic of Cook Islands Costa Rica Cote D'Ivoire Croatia Cuba Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Falkland Islands Faroe Islands Fiji Finland France French Guiana French Polynesia French Southern Territories Gabon Gambia, The Georgia Germany Ghana Gibraltar Greece Greenland Grenada Guadeloupe Guam Guatemala Guernsey Guinea Guinea-Bissau Guyana Haiti Heard and McDonald Islands Honduras Hong Kong Hungary Iceland India Indonesia Iran Iraq Ireland Israel Italy Jamaica Japan Jersey Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Korea, North Korea, South Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Laos Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Libya Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macau Macedonia Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Man, Isle of Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania Mauritius Mayotte Mexico Micronesia Moldova Monaco Mongolia Montserrat Morocco Mozambique Myanmar Namibia Nauru Nepal Netherlands Netherlands Antilles New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria Niue Norfolk Island Northern Mariana Islands Norway Oman Pakistan Palau Palestine Panama Panama Canal Zone Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Philippines Pitcairn Poland Portugal Puerto Rico Qatar Reunion Romania Russia Rwanda Saint Helena Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Pierre and Miquelon Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Samoa San Marino Sao Tome and Principe Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia and Montenegro Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia South Africa South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands Spain Sri Lanka Sudan Suriname Svalbard Swaziland Sweden Switzerland Syria Taiwan Tajikistan Tanzania Thailand Timor-Leste Togo Tokelau Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu U.S. Minor Outlying Islands Uganda Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom United States Uruguay Uzbekistan Vanuatu Vatican City Venezuela Vietnam Virgin Islands Wallis and Futuna Islands Western Sahara Yemen Zambia Zimbabwe
Email Address:

I would like to receive a FREE subscription to Information Security magazine online.
YesNo

Do you manage, evaluate, recommend, implement, support or purchase security products, software or services?
YesNo

Please estimate the yearly security budget for your entire organization including all security products and services.
Please select... Over $10 Million $5 Million-$10 Million $1 Million-$4.9 Million $500,000-$999,999 $100,000-$499,999 $50,000-$99,999 $25,000-$49,999 $10,000-$24,999 Less than $10,000 None

What is your role in purchasing IT related products and services? (Check all that apply)
Technical decision maker
Financial decision maker
Recommend/Specify
Evaluate products
Implement Products/Services
Determine Needs
Create Security Strategy
None

By joining SearchSecurity.com you agree to receive email updates from the TechTarget network of sites, including updates on new content, magazine or event notifications, new site launches and market research surveys. Please verify all information and selections above. You may unsubscribe at any time from one or more of the services you have selected by editing your profile or unsubscribing via email.

TechTarget cares about your privacy. Read our Privacy Policy

BROWSE BY TAG Platform Security,   Enterprise Data Protection,   Disk Encryption and File Encryption,   Identity Theft and Data Security Breaches,   VIEW ALL TAGS

Digg This!     StumbleUpon     Del.icio.us

RELATED CONTENT Platform Security What are the security risks of Windows Vista RSS functionality? How to harden Linux operating systems What are the key provisions of Massachusetts Executive Order 412? A simple substitution cipher vs. one-time pad software When should a virtual patch be used? What is the best operating system for an FTP server implementation? Are encrypted, self-deleting USB storage drives worth the investment? Can read/write access policies be put on a SAN server? Is it more secure to have a mainframe or a collection of servers? Should open source disk-encryption software be used? Disk Encryption and File Encryption Database monitoring, encryption vital in tight economy, Forrester says Sophos integrates encryption into endpoint security Cryptography for the rest of us Encryption in data management should never be ignored, expert says Security budget issues to resonate at RSA Conference Portable security storage device could replace OTP devices Mass. officials explain new data protection regulations A simple substitution cipher vs. one-time pad software Are encrypted, self-deleting USB storage drives worth the investment? Massachusetts data protection, encryption law extended Identity Theft and Data Security Breaches TJX to pay $9.75 million for data breach investigations Man pleads guilty in online banking hacking scam White House cybersecurity czar faces major hurdles Heartland breach cost $12.6 million, CEO says An inside look at security log management forensics investigations LexisNexis investigates breach, notifies thousands Senators hear call for federal cybersecurity restructuring Former Federal Reserve Bank employee arrested Attackers cash in on fundamental data handling mistakes, Verizon finds Courts turn aside data breach suits

RELATED GLOSSARY TERMS Terms from Whatis.com − the technology online dictionary Advanced Encryption Standard  (SearchSecurity.com) data key  (SearchSecurity.com) Encrypting File System  (SearchSecurity.com) Escrowed Encryption Standard  (SearchSecurity.com) International Data Encryption Algorithm  (SearchSecurity.com) network encryption  (SearchSecurity.com) output feedback  (SearchSecurity.com) quantum cryptography  (SearchSecurity.com) Quiz: Cryptography  (SearchSecurity.com) Rijndael  (SearchSecurity.com)

RELATED RESOURCES 2020software.com, trial software downloads for accounting software, ERP software, CRM software and business software systems Search Bitpipe.com for the latest white papers and business webcasts Whatis.com, the online computer dictionary

Stories of lost or stolen laptops containing sensitive information appear almost weekly in the news, and according to a Ponemon Institute survey done in August 2006, around four out of five organizations have suffered data loss in this fashion. I would consider controlling what data can be downloaded to a company laptop in the first place, but statistics certainly support more widespread use of data or hard drive encryption.

So why don't we encrypt our data as a matter of course? Well it's probably because of the impact on performance, plus the required increase in system administration and user support. Full-disk encryption (FDE) is a process that encrypts everything on a disk without user action. This includes the operating system, swap file and any temporary files. These last two can often leak important confidential data to a hacker. FDE also provides support for pre-boot authentication. It's an effective technique, but encryption can double data access times, particularly when virtual memory is being heavily accessed.

Another, more significant problem, though, is encryption key and password management. Any encryption system is only as safe as the encryption keys. With FDE, only one key is used to encrypt the entire disk. Usually keys are stored on the local system, and their sole protection is typically the user's password or passphrase. And we all know how weak they can be! Disk encryption therefore requires policies that enforce strong passwords and can handle forgotten passwords, encryption key backup processes and employee termination.

Despite these disadvantages, I think FDE is fast becoming an essential security requirement for any organization that holds sensitive data. Data loss can be crippling both financially and legally, and protecting data with a well-implemented FDE policy will prevent many of these problems. File encryption such as Microsoft's Windows EFS (Encrypting File System) is a start, but EFS doesn't encrypt all of the data saved on the hard disk. Also, file encryption is nowhere near as efficient as drive encryption.

There are plenty of new products that will make FDE a more practical solution. Windows Vista Enterprise and Ultimate editions, for example, include BitLocker full volume encryption (FVE). It encrypts the partition on which Vista is installed, and it does so on a sector basis rather than by files. This arrangement protects all data, including that in the paging file, hibernation file and all system files. Other partitions can only be protected using EFS, but at least the EFS encryption keys are located on the OS partition. On the hardware side, Seagate is about to ship a hard drive that includes a special encryption chip that will make its data impossible for anyone to read -- or even boot up its PC -- without some form of authentication. (I'm a fan of using hardware tokens to reduce password management overhead, but it's an additional cost to consider.) Thankfully, Seagate is also working to develop an enterprise password management system that works with the drives.

More information: