You think your data is safe behind your firewall? Think again. A stolen laptop, a rogue insider, or even a discarded drive from a decommissioned server can expose everything if it’s not encrypted at rest. This isn’t theoretical; I’ve seen data exfiltration from unencrypted drives far too many times.
BitLocker is built into Windows Server. No excuses. Encrypt all your volumes with AES-256 and store those recovery keys in Active Directory. This is basic data protection hygiene, and if you’re not doing it, you’re leaving a gaping hole in your data security strategy. Don’t rely on physical security alone.
To get it done, start with something like this: Enable-BitLocker -MountPoint “C:” -EncryptionMethod Aes256 -RecoveryPasswordProtector. Then, ensure those recovery keys are backed up to AD: Backup-BitLockerKeyProtector -MountPoint “C:” -KeyProtectorId (Get-BitLockerVolume -MountPoint “C:”).KeyProtector[1].KeyProtectorId.
Go enable BitLocker on every single Windows server volume you own.
The fix
# PowerShell
Enable-BitLocker -MountPoint "C:" -EncryptionMethod Aes256 -RecoveryPasswordProtector
# Backup key to AD
Backup-BitLockerKeyProtector -MountPoint "C:" -KeyProtectorId (Get-BitLockerVolume -MountPoint "C:").KeyProtector[1].KeyProtectorId
Reference: CIS Windows Server Benchmark 18.9.12