Patent ID: 7908640

Claim:
A data handling apparatus for a computer platform using an operating system executing a process, the apparatus comprising a data management unit arranged to associate data management information with data input to the process and to regulate operating system operations involving the data according to the data management information; a system call monitor implemented in the computer platform and operating to detect predetermined system calls and data manipulation by the process so as to modify identifiable characteristics of the data, wherein the system call monitor includes supervisor code that is executed within a program flow of the process, and means for applying a data handling policy upon detecting: (1) a predetermined data type based on a tag or label associated with the data manipulated by the process or based on a format of the data manipulated by the process; and (2) one of the predetermined system calls being detected, whereby the data handling policy is applied for all system calls involving the writing of data outside the process, wherein the supervisor code controls the process at run time to administer the operating system data management unit.