Which technology protects the contents of the storage device when the operating system is not running?

Which technology protects the contents of the storage device when the operating system is not running?

• A. Local Drive Encryption
• B. NX Bit
• C. XN Bit
• D. ASLR

Answer: (A)

Protecting data at rest on a storage device requires encryption that remains active even when the operating system isn’t running. Local Drive Encryption provides full-disk or drive-level encryption, so all data on the disk is encrypted and only readable after the user or system authenticates at boot or during unlock. This means the raw contents of the storage stay protected if the machine is off, stolen, or the OS is not loaded. The other technologies address memory and execution protections, not encryption of stored data: the NX Bit and XN Bit control whether code can execute from certain memory regions to block certain exploits, and ASLR randomizes memory addresses to hinder attacks—neither protects the disk’s contents when the system isn’t active.

Protecting data at rest on a storage device requires encryption that remains active even when the operating system isn’t running. Local Drive Encryption provides full-disk or drive-level encryption, so all data on the disk is encrypted and only readable after the user or system authenticates at boot or during unlock. This means the raw contents of the storage stay protected if the machine is off, stolen, or the OS is not loaded. The other technologies address memory and execution protections, not encryption of stored data: the NX Bit and XN Bit control whether code can execute from certain memory regions to block certain exploits, and ASLR randomizes memory addresses to hinder attacks—neither protects the disk’s contents when the system isn’t active.