One of the biggest problems in computer security, especially storage, is physical security. If someone is able to take a hard drive, it's usually not difficult to overcome most security barriers to access its data. BitLocker is a solution to this problem. It provides whole disk encryption and secure boot (which is different from UEFI Secure Boot). In order to gain the most out of BitLocker, it should be used only from the management operating system and on a computer with a Trusted Platform Module. BitLocker is a standard Windows component and won't be discussed in depth in this book. For more information, start with Microsoft's documentation at http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh831713.aspx.

BitLocker will have the most value in any installation where the physical safety of a computer cannot be guaranteed and the physical storage has no other protective mechanism. BitLocker has its drawbacks though. Drive encryption always incurs performance overhead, sometimes...