What type of hardware device facilitates full disk encryption on laptops and tablets?

The Trusted Platform Module (TPM) is a specialized hardware component designed to enhance security through cryptographic functions, making it instrumental in facilitating full disk encryption on laptops and tablets. TPMs store cryptographic keys and can perform encryption/decryption operations securely. They help ensure that sensitive data is protected by managing encryption keys in a secure environment, which plays a critical role in verifying the integrity of the platform and protecting the encryption keys used in full disk encryption.

While Solid State Drives (SSDs) can support encryption technologies, they do not by themselves manage the security context required for effective execution of full disk encryption; they are primarily storage devices. Random Access Memory (RAM) is temporary storage that does not provide any encryption capabilities. The Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) accelerates graphical computations but does not directly relate to disk encryption processes. In this context, the TPM plays a crucial role in securing the encryption keys essential for full disk encryption implementations.