Logged in, and there's some notification asking me to backup the key because it is encrypting my file system. I didn't ask it to do that, and I wasn't even logged in as admin before the reboot.

How to Encrypt and Decrypt a File. Encrypting files on your computer helps to secure your data from unauthorized access. Microsoft Windows features the native ability to encrypt files and folders ...

That same year, the Russian agricultural business Miratorg was attacked by ransomware that used BitLocker to encrypt files residing in the system storage of infected devices.

Vista relies primarily on AES (Advanced Encryption System), using it as the encryption algorithm both EFS (Encrypted File System) and BitLocker drive encryption.

The BitLocker encryption built into higher-end versions of Windows Vista goes a long way toward locking out intruders at the boot-drive level, but it's neither 100% hassle-free nor 100% secure.

I don’t like Windows’ Encrypted File System (EFS), and Jeff’s story illustrates why. Although EFS provides what appears to be a convenient, completely transparent form of encryption, it can ...

In fact, the Encrypting File System (EFS) has been around since way back in Windows 2000, as a feature built right into the NT file system (NTFS), on which Vista, XP, and Win2K have been based.