What precautions can be taken to hand in a broken SP2 with business data on the SSD?

[Dick99999]

Recently it looked like my SP2 needed repair. It could not switch on my SP2. It appeared that there is a 2-btton procedure to really power down the SP2 (only for the SP 2), after that my power on button worked again, see surface-pro-wont-turn-on

That made me wonder though whether I could delete or protect my business data stored on the internal SSD, before handing in a broken SP2. I used to remove the disk (a company policy) , but that seems not feasible for an SP2. What precaution can be recommended? I was thinking of encrypting a virtual drive on my internal SSD and use that for storing data. I was thinking about TrueCrypt, but that is formally not available for Win 8. Since the SP2 has windows Pro, perhaps BitLocker is an option?

 

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You can use Bit-Drive Encryption. The Surface Pro 2 has TPM 1.2 chip inside.
I have not set it up, as I don't need it.

Also you can use Windows encryption system. You just right-click on a any files or folders, select properties, and then on Advanced, and check the box: "Encrypt content to secure data.".
The first time you do it, Windows will prompt you to backup your encryption certification, which you'll need to decrypt the files if you re-install.

Bit-Drive Encryption is stronger, and is full disk. Windows encryption system is more convenient, but if your account password is discovered, they can access the files. As they have access to Windows, with this method, they can find ways to take the data out, and start decrypting it, or start by-passing the account password more easily.

I guess it depends on the importance of your files. I would seek what your company policy suggests for maximum security. Usually companies hire a security experts to determine the best approach to apply to protect their data.

TrueCrypt is very secure is recommended. I think it works on Windows 8.1
https://forums.windowscentral.com/e...are%26tempOsid%3DWindows%2B8.1&token=8In2Jmed

It might not be supported (ie: if you have a problem, you could be on your own), but it works.
Personally I think it's because the open source community don't have or don't have enough Windows 8 systems to test it. So if you encounter bugs or something, they can't really help you out.