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Security Fundamentals & Crypto · Foundational

File-Level Encryption

Encrypting individual files rather than entire volumes, so protection can travel with the file.

Definition

File-level encryption allows granular protection and can keep files encrypted when copied or shared. Examples include EFS, GPG-encrypted files, and IRM-protected documents. It requires managing keys per file or per user.

Example

gpg --encrypt --recipient alice@example.com payroll.xlsx produces an encrypted file only Alice can open.

Exam tip

Security+ distinguishes full-disk, partition, volume, file, database, and record-level encryption.

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