Data Encryption (Windows) - How to Encrypt Removable Media
- Jay Morton
- Ben Beachy (Unlicensed)
- Marie Desir
The storing of University Data on USB devices and other mobile medium is strongly discouraged. The loss or theft of such devices may put at risk confidential university information. In rare circumstance when an employee needs to store University data on a mobile device, it is required that the device is encrypted in accordance with the Technology Services Data Security Plan.
To encrypt a USB drive from your Windows computer.
If the USB device contains any files you want to save, copy them to another storage device or volume
Open File Explorer and right-click on your USB drive.
From the drop-down box, click Turn on BitLocker
From the pop-up window choose Use a password to unlock the drive and Enter your password. Your password should be complex but something that is easy for you to remember.
From the next pop up window, it is recommended that you save your recovery key to a file. If you forget your password and do not have a recovery key, information on the USB drive will not be recoverable.
Choose Encrypt entire drive (recommended) and click Next.
Once the encryption is completed click close, you should now see the encrypted partition from the external drive.