Disk encryption software
Disk encryption generally refers to wholesale encryption that operates on an entire volume mostly transparently to the user, the system, and applications. This is generally distinguished from file-level encryption that operates by user invocation on a single file or group of files, and which requires the user to decide which specific files should be encrypted. Disk encryption usually includes all aspects of the disk, including directories, so that an adversary cannot determine content, name or size of any file. It is well suited to portable devices such as laptop computers and thumb drives which are particularly susceptible to being lost or stolen. If used properly, someone finding a lost device cannot penetrate actual data, or even know what files might be present.
Column level encryption
Column level encryption is a type of database encryption method that allows user to select specific information or attributes to be encrypted instead of encrypting the entire database file. To understand why column level encryption is different from other encryption methods like file level encryption, disk encryption, and database encryption, a basic understanding of encryption is required.