TABLE OF CONTENTS 
Encrypting File SystemThe Encrypting File System (EFS) has been a component of the New Technology File System (NTFS) since Windows 2000. It s a reliable technology and implementation, and is strongly recommended in environments where private information is easily identified by information owners and administrators. For environments where private information moves around from place to place, where there isn t as much oversight ability, or where the risk is considered greater (particularly in mobile computers such as laptops and Tablet PCs), whole-disk encryption, which we discuss later in this chapter, may be considered a better threat mitigation.
Cryptography is all about taking data that you can read and turning it into mush that you can t and sometimes, it s about taking that mush and turning it back into data that you can read. One of this book s authors studied mathematics at Cambridge University, and the mathematics that get used in cryptography make his head hurt. He understands them enough to trust them, and we suggest that you do as he does: trust the mathematicians, and believe in the operation of cryptography as voodoo magic, as though someone had shown you that not only can she turn a crank handle on a side of beef and turn it into burgers, but also that she can turn it the other way and turn your dollar value meal into a cow s rump, a tomato, and a few chaffs of wheat.
For EFS and BitLocker, we re mostly concerned with this ability...
