The Data Tethers project is building an operating system that prevents loss of sensitive data when portable computers or storage devices are lost or stolen. Loss of such information is commonplace and often very damaging. Data Tethers addresses this problem by ensuring that when a portable device leaves a secure environment, sensitive data is not allowed to go with it. Many organizations have policies saying that such data should not leave their premises, but they have no enforcement mechanism. Data Tethers provides that mechanism. Data Tethers must track data as it is copied from file to file, since the goal is to prevent data loss, not just to protect particular files. The system must deal with issues of data lingering on in deleted files, temporary storage locations, and other obscure places in a modern computer, since thieves will look for sensitive data in those places, as well. Data Tethers is being added to Sun Microsystem's Open Solaris, an existing operating system in common use, and will make use of Sun's standard mechanism for adding functionality to Open Solaris. The expected results of the Data Tethers project will be a working open source operating system that will allow the owners and curators of sensitive data to avoid loss of that data through loss of their devices. This system will be freely available to all through a well-known web distribution mechanism, and will also serve as a template for how other operating system providers can add similar services to their systems.
