My New Mac, Lion Edition

Encrypting Your Hard Disk

Turning on the FileVault program encrypts the information in your entire hard disk using the password you use for your account. For safety, you can also create a recovery key to access your encrypted hard disk. That way, if you forget your account password, you can still read your files using the recovery key. If you forget both your account password and your recovery key, you can never read your data again.

Note

FileVault uses an encryption algorithm called Advanced Encryption Standard (AES), which even government agencies can’t crack (theoretically).

To encrypt your hard disk using FileVault, do this:

1. Click the Apple menu and select System Preferences. A System Preferences window appears.

2. Click the Security & Privacy icon ...