7 Tips for the truly paranoid PC user - Tip #5

Encrypt your hard drive

Recommended in the NSA’s rundown of security highlights in Windows 7 (PDF), BitLocker encryption is built into the Enterprise and Ultimate versions of Windows 7, as well as the Pro and Enterprise versions of Windows 8. When enabled, BitLocker encrypts all of the data kept on a storage volume, and it continues working in the background to protect the contents of a Windows PC from unauthorized access.

BitLocker is an excellent first line of defense that takes just a few clicks to enable. However, if you’re concerned that the full-disk encryption technology may have been compromised by a backdoor deal with the NSA (there is no evidence of that, so far), you can find plenty of alternative methods to encrypt your data.