What feature helps mitigate the risks of data exposure from lost or stolen computers?

BitLocker encryption is a security feature designed specifically to protect the data on hard drives, particularly in scenarios where devices may be lost or stolen. By encrypting the entire volume of the storage drive, it ensures that even if someone physically accesses the drive, they cannot read any of the data without the appropriate decryption key or password.

This strong encryption mechanism effectively mitigates the risks associated with data exposure. In the case of a lost or stolen computer, without the necessary credentials to unlock the BitLocker-encrypted drive, unauthorized users are unable to view or manipulate the data stored on it.

While disk encryption is a broader term that can encompass other encryption methods, BitLocker specifically refers to the Microsoft implementation of disk encryption, making it particularly relevant within the context of Windows environments. Comparatively, features like a file recovery program focus on data recovery rather than data protection, and data protection policies would typically govern how data is handled but do not directly encrypt the data on a lost device.