A
hard drive encryption tool in
Windows Vista Enterprise and Ultimate. BitLocker addresses threats of data theft or disclosure from lost, stolen or
inappropriately decommissioned PC hardware. BitLocker works by preventing a thief
who boots another operating system or runs a software hacking tool from breaking
Windows Vista file and system protections or performing offline viewing of the
files stored on the protected drive. The feature uses a
Trusted Platform Module
to protect user data and to ensure that a PC running Windows Vista has not been
tampered with while the system was offline. BitLocker combines drive encryption
and integrity checking of early boot components.
[Adapted
from Microsoft Windows Vista]Also see Windows Vista.