FileVault is an encryption technology first included in Mac OS 10.4 that’s useful for anyone whose computer contains sensitive information. It can prevent unauthorized access to the items in your home folder by encrypting the entire folder with a current government-approved standard called Advanced Encryption Standard with 128-bit keys (AES-128).
When you first turn on FileVault from System Preferences, you’ll also create a master password for the computer that will allow you to reset your regular login password, if it’s ever forgotten. While FileVault is an excellent and functional way to protect your files, if you ever forget your master password and your regular login password, your files are gone. Forever.
A customer came in this morning asking for her password to be reset. When I realized she used FileVault, I called her to ask for the master password. She didn’t know it. This case was a double-whammy, because I also discovered that her hard drive was failing when the computer took about 5 minutes to arrive at the login window. The drive was still working well enough that I was confident the data could be recovered, but since FileVault was enabled, there was no point.
So, this week’s tip: do not, under any circumstances, forget that master password.