2 Factor Authentication & Secure USB Flash Drives - Strong Authentication for Full Disk Encryption
2 Factor Authentication & Secure USB Flash Drives

Strong Authentication for Full Disk Encryption

The Best in Data-at-Rest Protection

Full Disk Encryption (FDE) is a solution for protecting Data At Rest (DAR) on a computer by encrypting the entire hard disk. The encryption and decryption operations are transparent to end users.

This differs from file and folder encryption where specific files are encrypted either explicitly (through a manual operation by the user), or implicitly where a particular folder is designated as encrypted, in which case files that are saved to that folder are automatically encrypted. Full Disk Encryption is a better solution for Data-At-Rest for two reasons:

  • It is transparent to the end user
  • Nothing can be left unencrypted (the whole disk is encrypted)
Typically a Full Disk Encryption solution encrypts all of the data on a disk including the operating system. This means that a machine cannot even finish the boot up process until critical operating system components are decrypted. The machine remains in a "Pre-Boot" state until the proper cryptographic key is provided to the decryption software.