For Windows XP or Vista platforms, you can install a BitLocker To Go Reader application onto the target storage device during initialization this app, available as a download, gives users password-protected, read-only access to encrypted data. Though BitLocker To Go volumes can be accessed by any versions of Windows 7 and later, you need Windows 7 Enterprise, Windows 7 Ultimate, Windows 8 Pro or Windows 8 Enterprise to initialize BitLocker To Go on storage drives. For convenience, it's possible to enable auto-unlock, which lets a PC to store decrypted data from specific storage drives. The drive's unencrypted content is password-protected, and data is automatically encrypted as it's copied over. This capability, which first appeared with Windows 7, is initialized to at the disk-volume level of a removable storage drive.

Windows 7 and 8: BitLocker To Goįor Windows users, BitLocker To Go is the easiest way to encrypt an entire USB portable storage device. A thoroughly wiped or physically destroyed storage device remains the most secure defense against data leakage, though.

Reconstituting previously encrypted data, on the other hand, is far more involved, as it that requires the original credentials or even a copy of the decryption key.įeature: 20 Security and Privacy Apps for Androids and iPhonesĪn encrypted storage device with a decryption key that's been erased, or one with a good authentication passphrase, offers a good safeguard against malicious data recovery. Many businesses don't realize how easily deleted files can be retrieved with off-the-shelf recovery software from mechanical storage devices such as hard disk drives (HDD) or USB drives.

Portable usb storage devices