Protecting the data on your Windows based system has just got a whole lot easier with the latest release of the open source project TrueCrypt. The latest incarnation (version 5.0) is the first release to include support for encrypted windows boot partitions, and uses pre-boot authentication as part of the start up process.

This will be welcome news to anyone with highly sensitive information stored on hard drives that are possible targets of theft such as laptops or external portable drives. With the ability to encrypt the boot partition a stolen laptop protected with TrueCrypt will be un-bootable without the correct passphrase.

TrueCrypt encryption is done on the fly, and with improved pipelining of the encrypt/decrypt process file access times are not noticeably affected. The additional benefit of TrueCrypt as a multi-platform open source development will in my opinion make this a project to keep an eye on in the coming years as concerns over data security increase and more tough data protection laws emerge.

On a personal level TrueCrypt 5 will be a welcome addition to my laptop, adding that extra piece of mind that if my laptop did go missing at least all of my clients personal and professional information will be secure. More information about TrueCrypt 5.0 is available at http://www.truecrypt.org/news.php

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