Cipher.exe Security Tool for the Encrypting File System (298009)

SUMMARY

Cipher.exe is a command-line tool (included with Windows 2000) that you can use to manage encrypted data by using the Encrypting File System (EFS). As of June 2001, Microsoft has developed an improved version of the Cipher.exe tool that provides the ability to permanently overwrite (or "wipe") all of the deleted data on a hard disk. This feature improves security by ensuring that even an attacker who gained complete physical control of a Windows 2000 computer would be unable to recover previously-deleted data.

IMPORTANT: Please note the following important information:

• You must install Cipher.exe by using the installer package instead of copying the new version of Cipher.exe to your computer. The tool relies on additional NTFS functionality that is added as part of the installation process. If you only copy the Cipher.exe file to your computer and then run it, you could destroy data on the drive.
• You must close all programs before you start Cipher.exe.
• Cipher.exe is not a cure-all that makes it safe to store sensitive data in a plain-text format. Although you can use this tool to remove sensitive data from a drive, if best practices are followed, such data would not normally be created on the drive. For additional information about these best practices, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

  223316 Best Practices for the Encrypting File System

For additional information about the latest service pack for Windows 2000, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

   Date         Time   Version        Size     Filename
   ------------------------------------------------------
   May-30-2001  16:25  5.0.2195.3653   36,112  Cipher.exe
   May-26-2001  07:48  5.0.2195.3649  512,272  Ntfs.sys