Microsoft is making file encryption a whole lot easier with Windows 10

The kind of people who want to encrypt their files are the kind of people who are willing to research the best ways to go about doing it. At least, that’s how things used to be. Nowadays there are far more people interested in encryption, but the problem is that it’s not very accessible to people who don’t know what they’re doing. Windows users have been able to use BitLocker for quite some time, which is an easy way to encrypt your files, but the fifteen year old service is showing its age, and Microsoft has decided to give us a more up-to-date solution. 

As the flurry of Windows 10-related news begins to finally slow in the days following Microsoft’s Build 2015 event, snippets of info from the company about its upcoming operating system are becoming increasingly specific. The latest is a demo presented by Microsoft’s own Joe Belfiore, which shows how the new OS will be able to encrypt files on an individual basis, rather than by the folder or for the entire hard drive as in previous iterations. Before, the only way Windows would be able to effectively encrypt data on its own was in bulk, through the standard BitLocker service. BitLocker has been a part of the Windows ecosystem since as early as Windows 2000, but the demand for a better solution has only recently started to nip at the aging program’s heels. Belfiore showed off the individual encryption service at Microsoft Ignite, the company’s enterprise-focused conference designed to advertise the Windows 10 platform to larger business clientele and their massive server farms. The service will work seamlessly in the OS, with users simply needing to right-click the file they want encrypted, and choose the method which best suits the application they’re shooting for.