What should I expect on my College-owned Windows device?
After encryption is enabled, Windows will start the encryption process. No user action is required.
What should I expect on my College-owned macOS device?
After encryption has been enabled, macOS will prompt for the user password the next time the Mac is shutdown or rebooted.
Does this affect my personal devices?
This only applies to College-owned faculty and staff office computers running Windows and macOS.
How will the encryption be achieved?
Windows computers will utilize the operating system feature BitLocker to encrypt the primary operating system disk. FileVault, the disk encryption program built into macOS will encrypt the system disk at startup on Mac computers.
How will the master keys for decryption be managed?
ITS manages both BitLocker and FileVault through their desktop management tools. If an encryption key is needed, contact the Help Desk at help@lafayette.edu so an ITS staff member can follow up on your request.
How will the data on encrypted hard drives be restored in the event of a failure?
CrashPlan is used to backup data on College-owned faculty and staff office computers and provides easy and secure protection against data loss for Windows, macOS, and Linux computers. More information about CrashPlan can be found at https://help.lafayette.edu/crashplan/.
What does disk encryption specifically protect against?
Disk encryption protects against unauthorized access to data on a storage device in the event it’s physically lost or stolen. It renders the data unreadable without the correct decryption key.