What is BitLocker Drive Encryption?

Protect your system from hackers with Microsoft® Windows® Vista™ BitLocker™ Drive Encryption technology.

Crucial's Gizmo!™ flash drives are fully compatible with Vista BitLocker technology, making them an ideal addition to your company's overall security plan.

BitLocker Drive Encryption is a new security feature available in the Microsoft Windows Vista operating system, BitLocker provides unprecedented off-line data and OS protection for your computer, as it was designed to prevent hackers who boot another operating system or runs a tool from breaking Windows files and system protections. That means BitLocker protects your data on client systems, even when the system is in the wrong hands-or running a different OS.

How does the Gizmo! fit in? BitLocker offers the option to lock the normal boot process until you supply a PIN (not unlike an ATM card) or insert a USB flash drive that holds keying material. This additional security results in multi-factor authentication to ensure the computer will not boot or resume from hibernation until the correct PIN or USB flash drives is used. That means by using a Gizmo! flash drive, you can effectively halt any viruses or hacking from the pre-boot stage.