BillCan's Place : Data Encryption

Announcing the Data Encryption Toolkit for Mobile PCs

BillCan — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 00:05:00 GMT

I am happy to announce that the we have released the Data Encryption Toolkit for Mobile PCs. This solution accelerator is designed to help you understand the encryption options that Microsoft provides that can help protect laptop data (BitLocker and Encrypting File System), and then deploy and operate the selected technologies. The DET includes a tool called the EFS Assistant, a small program that installs on your client PCs (desktop or laptop) and enforces your EFS encryption policy.

You can see the Data Encryption Toolkit online or access the download page at www.microsoft.com/det.

Let me know if you have any questions!

Chalk talk completed...

BillCan — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 21:51:00 GMT

The first thing I had to do at Tech Ed this year was a chalk talk on the Data Encryption Toolkit for Mobile PCs that I just finished. The session was pretty heavily attended, with all chairs filled and lots of folks sitting on the sides and standing in the back. Basically, I talked about the DET for about an hour, and fielded lots of good questions from the attendees.

It was cool to do a chalk talk instead of a breakout because it is much smaller and much less formal. In fact, you are not supposed to use slides at all for a chalk talk (I threw in a few... Come on, I'm a PM for cryin' out loud!).

For the rest of today and Tuesday I am an attendee, with no official responsibilities, so I will be attending sessions and taking in the show like everyone else. After that I'm really busy working at the booth (Security and Compliance), running my side meeting and doing other stuff, but until then I can just enjoy myself...

Stop by and say "Hi" at Tech Ed

BillCan — Thu, 24 May 2007 04:44:00 GMT

If you are going to be at Tech Ed the week after next, I'd love to meet you. I'll be doing a TLC chalk talk session at 10:30 on Monday entitled "Your Customers' Laptop Data Is at Risk! Protecting Customer Data with the Data Encryption Toolkit for Mobile PCs" (SEC01-TLC). The rest of the time I'll be off and on at the "Security and Compliance" booth.

My next project is focusing on secure collaboration. If you have some thoughts on this topic, I'd love to hear them. If you really want to get talkative on the subject, we're doing a side meeting on Wednesday where you can fill me in on just what you need from Microsoft in this area.

See you in Orlando!

EFS Assistant Updated: RC2 now available on CodePlex

BillCan — Sat, 12 May 2007 09:38:00 GMT

We have made a few bug fixes to the EFS Assistant tool and its Administrator's Guide. We have posted new versions to our CodePlex site at http://www.codeplex.com/EFSAssistant. Please let me know if you find any bugs or you get any error messages when you run the tool.

EFS Assistant RC1 is now available!

BillCan — Sat, 05 May 2007 06:57:00 GMT

The Solution Accelerators for Security and Compliance team has released its first release candidate for the Microsoft Encrypting File System Assistant 1.0 (EFS Assistant). This tool helps centrally control EFS encryption on Windows XP SP2 and Windows Vista clients. You can download the Release Candidate 1 version of the tool and the Administrator's Guide here.

Looking for a few good devs...

BillCan — Sat, 05 May 2007 01:20:00 GMT

Are you an IT administrator who wants to do some development on the side? Are you a developer who is interested in IT administration? We're looking for you!

My team has created a tool called the EFS Assistant and are putting the source code out on CodePlex (see http://www.codeplex.com/EFSAssistant). We think we have made a great start on this tool, but we know lots of additional features that could be added. To help keep the tool moving forward, we are looking for someone (or some people) who would be interested in taking the project forward.

If you are interested in participating in the project, let me know by using the email link to send me an quick note. I look forward to hearing from you!

Bill

New pre-release version of the EFS Assistant tool available on Codeplex

BillCan — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 08:19:00 GMT

We have migrated development of the EFS Assistant tool to Microsoft's Codeplex site. To celebrate, we have posted a pre-release version of the EFS Assistant on the site. This version incorporates feedback we got from customers and internal reviewers.

The EFS Assistant page on Codeplex is here: http://www.codeplex.com/EFSAssistant.

Protecting your mobile PCs using BitLocker and EFS - New Guidance Released!

BillCan — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 17:52:00 GMT

My team recently released a new guide on Technet focused on protecting data on mobile PCs. The Security Analysis is part of the Microsoft Data Encryption Toolkit for Mobile PCs that is being released in phases over the next couple of months. The Security Analysis can be found at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=86125. The Data Encryption Toolkit is at http://www.microsoft.com/det.

The Security Analysis looks at the unique risks that impact the data on mobile PCs and analyzes how Microsoft's key encryption technologies in Windows XP and WIndows Vista help address these risks. We've found that, depending on the level of data protection you need, Microsoft can meet the needs of most organizations using built-in technologies, especially when using Windows Vista.

If you are trying to figure out how to protect the confidential data on your mobile PCs, if you have questions about how EFS or BitLocker works, or if you are wondering about the different options for configuring these tools, you should check out the links above. While you are there, join our beta program and get an early glimpse at some of the other Data Encryption Toolkit components under development.

Beta Available for the Data Encryption Toolkit including the EFS Assistant

BillCan — Fri, 16 Mar 2007 02:23:00 GMT

The Solution Accelerators for Security and Compliance (SA-SC) team is currently developing the Data Encryption Toolkit for Mobile PCs (DET). The Toolkit is a collection of guidance and tools designed to help you address specific data security risks that are related to laptop computers. By implementing the guidance and tools provided in the Toolkit, you can help your organization more effectively protect the data on laptop computers from the threat of loss or theft.

The Toolkit uses two encryption technologies that are a part of the Windows operating system: Encrypting File System (EFS), which is included in Windows 2000, Windows XP Professional, and many versions of Windows Vista, and BitLocker Drive Encryption, a new capability built into the Enterprise and Ultimate editions of Windows Vista.

This Beta release of the Toolkit contains 2 major components:

The Data Encryption Toolkit for Mobile PCs Planning and Implementation Guide. This document provides prescriptive, tested guidance for deploying various Microsoft data encryption technologies on your mobile PCs. The guidance is focused on how to deploy EFS and BitLocker in a way that is supportable in a large environment.
The Microsoft Encrypting File System Assistant. The EFS Assistant is a tool you can deploy on your organization's mobile PCs that enforces your EFS encryption policies. The EFS Assistant addresses many of the manageability issues inherent in EFS, and is entirely controlled and configured using Group Policy. This component includes Administrative Templates for configuring the tool as well as an Administrator's Guide that describes how to deploy, configure, and run the tool.

If you are interested in participating in this beta program, please visit https://connect.microsoft.com/InvitationUse.aspx?ProgramID=790&InvitationID=DETB-Q3PQ-JVYK&SiteID=14.

Beta version of tool for enforcing EFS encryption is shipping next week

BillCan — Sat, 10 Mar 2007 19:06:00 GMT

One of the major downsides to EFS, especially from an administrator's point of view, is that it is difficult to manage centrally. My team is creating a tool that will help address that situation. We call this tool the EFS Assistant. Basically, the EFS Assistant is a small software application that is installed on a user's laptop (or desktop) that enforces the encryption policy the administrator pushed to the client via Group Policy. The beta version of the tool can do the following:

Encrypt specific default folders that Microsoft recommends (e.g., My Documents, etc.)
Encrypt additional folders as configured by the administrator (for example, a folder holding data for a custom-built application)
Do not encrypt default folders that Microsoft recommends leaving unencrypted (e.g., Program Files, Windows directory)
Do not encrypt folders as configured by the administrator (for example, the application files for a custom-built application)
Scan the disk and encrypt folders that mostly or exclusively contain data files
Record the results of its encryption run in WMI for reporting via SMS or other management tools

The tool has some additional capabilities that you will see if you download the beta when it becomes available next week. If you are interested in this tool and would liketo participate in the beta program, please join our program on Microsoft Connect by visiting the following URL: https://connect.microsoft.com/InvitationUse.aspx?ProgramID=790&InvitationID=DESA-QYGY-T4HB&SiteID=14. When the beta becomes available, you will get an email notification.

The EFS Assistant a component of the Data Encryption Toolkit for Mobile PCs. The Toolkit is a set of guidance and tools to help address the unique risks to data presented by laptops using Microsoft technologies.

Stay up to date with the Data Encryption Toolkit for Mobile PCs

BillCan — Thu, 15 Feb 2007 07:13:00 GMT

If you want to stay up to date with my Data Encryption Toolkit for Mobile PCs project, visit https://connect.microsoft.com/InvitationUse.aspx?ProgramID=790&InvitationID=DESA-QYGY-T4HB&SiteID=14. If you sign up here you will be notified of any significant updates.

My project team releases the Data Encryption Toolkit for Mobile PCs Executive Overview

BillCan — Thu, 15 Feb 2007 07:05:00 GMT

My project team is pleased to announce the release of the Executive Overview for our newest Solution Accelerator, the Data Encryption Toolkit for Mobile PCs.

A free Solution Accelerator from Microsoft, the Data Encryption Toolkit for Mobile PCs provides tested guidance and powerful tools to help you protect your organization’s most vulnerable data. The strategies outlined in the toolkit are easy to deploy, and show you how to optimize two key encryption technologies already available to you in Microsoft® Windows® XP or Windows Vista™: the Encrypting File System and BitLocker Drive Encryption.

The Executive Overview is the first of several deliverables in the toolkit, and provides a high-level overview of the business and security risks inherent in mobile PCs. The Executive Overview also describes many of the technologies Microsoft provides to help address these risks – technologies that you already license. In addition, it provides a brief preview of the additional guidance and tools that our team will be releasing over the coming months in the Data Encryption Toolkit for Mobile PCs.

To learn more about the Executive Overview, or to download it, click here. The Executive Overview is also available as a download here.

Bill Canning
Sr. Program Manager
Solution Accelerators - Security and Compliance