Should all your Macs be protected by FileVault?Īs a rule of thumb, any Mac that carries or has access to personal or sensitive business data should use FileVault encryption. It’s still worth using FileVault with those systems as it enhances the inherent protection by requiring your login password to decrypt your data.Īpple maintains a list of Macs that make use of the T2 Security Chip here. Macs equipped with an Apple T2 Security chip automatically encrypt data already. This is one code that needs to be written down and locked away somewhere, even if you use a transposition cipher to secure that written key. In my experience, the challenge with the FileVault recovery key is that since it is used so infrequently, it is very easy to forget the code. A generalization is that longer passcodes are stronger passcodes (so long as they aren’t 12345678910), but it’s also important to consider passcode rotation schedules and alphanumeric codes. What to consider when creating passcodesĬompanies should consider passcode policy for FileVault volumes. That’s useful as it means that if a user forgets their password, IT can use the recovery key to reset FileVault and assign a new password to get them back in. However, a business that makes use of a modern MDM system to manage its Macs can also assign institutional recovery keys that can be managed and stored from the MDM console. It is extremely important to note that an individual user who cannot recall their password or recovery key will never be able to access that data, as they will eventually need to delete and reinstall macOS. Subsequently, in the event the passphrase or recovery key is changed the entire volume must be decrypted and re-encrypted. That first encryption can take time, depending on how much information you have on your Mac. NB: Once you enable FileVault, it cannot be turned off until the first full encrypt has taken place. One protection here is that console-based MDM-based systems may be able to remotely assign new keys. That’s because if you forget them both, all the data on your Mac will be unavailable to you. It is very important to note your login password and the recovery key generated for you when you enable FileVault. The first option is fine for personal users, but most enterprises will probably use a Recovery Key. You will be given two choices, to protect the Mac using your iCloud account and password, or to use a Recovery Key. If so, you can open System Preferences>Security & Privacy and check the FileVault tab. To enable it you must be an Admin user on your Mac. The current implementation of FileVault is available on both recent Intel and Apple Silicon Macs. When a Mac is protected by FileVault, no one can access its data unless they have the FileVault decryption key or user account credentials. When it comes to business, IT can manage FileVault using most available MDM systems and consoles. The technology has evolved since then and now offers XTS-AES 128 data encryption for the whole disk, protected by a 256-bit key. At that time, it only protected a user’s Home folder. FileVault encyrypts and decrypts data in the background, so the system can be used while the it does.Īpple introduced FileVault in 2005 with Mac OS X Panther (10.3). It does so by encrypting the data on the Mac and decrypting it only once an appropriate login is used. In many industries, protection of such information is mandatory and legally required.Īpple’s FileVault makes it much harder for unauthorized users to extract this kind of data from company Macs. That information has business value, but if compromised could also place you, your employees, or your customers at risk. This might include corporate or supplier data, confidential order books, financial records, contact names and addresses, and more. Most businesses possess various forms of sensitive data. What's the problem FileVault tries to solve? When used properly, it makes it extremely hard for any malicious person to access your company’s confidential data in the event your Mac is lost or stolen. If you run a business on Macs (and many companies do) then you should become familiar with FileVault, the disk encryption system that's built into macOS.
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