Introduction

Windows 2000 provides a new security feature by supporting file encryption. It will no longer be necessary to locate a third-party product to use in your Windows NT environment for data encryption. Because computers in general are more widely used and laptop use is at an all-time high, the concern over data security increases for everyone, not only the system administrator. The fact that you have implemented a firewall and that the Windows NT operating system includes mandatory logon and access control for files does not guarantee that your data is protected from unauthorized eyes. To keep your data from being viewed and/or modified by any unauthorized user, technology has now turned to the process of file encryption, which replaces physical security.

If thieves want your data, they can achieve their goal in many ways. Tools on some other operating systems can access NTFS volumes while bypassing the access control supplied by NTFS. Furthermore, the lack of physical security allows laptops to be stolen easily. Laptops now come with removable hard drives. This is great for the thief, since there is less contraband to conceal. The laptop still appears on the desk, so the thief has more time to exit a building before any alarms go off. A desktop computer s second hard drive can be missing by the next morning.

The protection of data via physical security would be very easily implemented if all the rooms where equipment is used were locked and nothing were ever allowed to...