Windows Vista : What is BitLocker Drive Encryption?

BitLocker Drive Encryption is an integral new security feature in the Windows Vista operating system that provides considerable protection for the operating system on your computer and data stored on the operating system volume. BitLocker ensures that data stored on a computer running Windows Vista remains encrypted even if the computer is tampered with when the operating system is not running. This helps protect against "offline attacks," attacks made by disabling or circumventing the installed operating system, or made by physically removing the hard drive to attack the data separately.

BitLocker uses a Trusted Platform Module (TPM) to provide enhanced protection for your data and to assure early boot component integrity. This helps protect your data from theft or unauthorized viewing by encrypting the entire Windows volume.

BitLocker is designed to offer a seamless user experience. It is designed for systems that have a compatible TPM microchip and BIOS. A compatible TPM is defined as a version 1.2 TPM. A compatible BIOS must support the TPM and the Static Root of Trust Measurement as defined by the Trusted Computing Group. For more information about TPM specifications, visit the TPM Specifications section of the Trusted Computing Group's Web site (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=72757).

The TPM interacts with BitLocker to help provide seamless protection at system startup. This is transparent to the user, and the user logon experience is unchanged. However, if the TPM is missing or changed, or if the startup information has changed, BitLocker will enter recovery mode, and you will need a recovery password to regain access to the data.

Microsoft Bids $44.6 Billion for Yahoo

Microsoft has made an offer to buy Yahoo for about $44.6 billion, or $31 a share, in a mix of cash and stock.

It is not clear how Yahoo’s board will react to Microsoft’s offer.

Job Losses Raise Recession Fears

US employers eliminated 17,000 jobs in January, the government reported Friday, the first decline in the work force in more than four years, and the strongest signal yet that the United States may be in the early stages of a recession.

The broad weakness in the job market, which affected many sectors, shows how the collapse of the housing bubble is rippling through the rest of the economy and suggests the likelihood of more pain for millions of American families in the months ahead from job losses, lower real wages and fewer working hours.

Employment has been weakening for months. While employers continued to add jobs last year, they did so at an ever slower pace, averaging just 42,000 jobs a month in the fourth quarter and 95,000 jobs a month for all of last year. That was down sharply from 175,000 a month in 2006, when the recovery from the 2001 recession was still in full swing.