Page 450 - (ISC)² CISSP Certified Information Systems Security Professional Official Study Guide

Applied Cryptography

Up to this point, you’ve learned a great deal about the foundations of
cryptography, the inner workings of various cryptographic algorithms,
and the use of the public key infrastructure to distribute identity

credentials using digital certificates. You should now feel comfortable
with the basics of cryptography and be prepared to move on to higher-
level applications of this technology to solve everyday communications
problems.

In the following sections, we’ll examine the use of cryptography to
secure data at rest, such as that stored on portable devices, as well as
data in transit, using techniques that include secure email, encrypted

web communications, and networking.

Portable Devices

The now ubiquitous nature of notebook computers, netbooks,
smartphones, and tablets brings new risks to the world of computing.

Those devices often contain highly sensitive information that, if lost or
stolen, could cause serious harm to an organization and its customers,
employees, and affiliates. For this reason, many organizations turn to
encryption to protect the data on these devices in the event they are
misplaced.

Current versions of popular operating systems now include disk
encryption capabilities that make it easy to apply and manage

encryption on portable devices. For example, Microsoft Windows
includes the BitLocker and Encrypting File System (EFS) technologies,
Mac OS X includes FileVault encryption, and the VeraCrypt open-
source package allows the encryption of disks on Linux, Windows, and
Mac systems.

Trusted Platform Module

Modern computers often include a specialized cryptographic
component known as a Trusted Platform Module (TPM). The TPM