Patent ID: 7836303

Claim:
A method for securely managing Web applications on a computing device that is coupled in communication with a network, comprising the steps of: (a) providing a browser operating system to service communications with remote Web sites over the network, the browser operating system being employed for controlling operation of the computing device at least in regard to communication over the network, wherein the browser operating system manages each of one or more browser instances executing on the computing device and mediates all network interactions between each browser instance and remote Web sites; (b) enabling a user to selectively initiate implementation of one or more Web applications while communicating with one or more remote Web sites from within the browser operating system, and as each instance of a Web application is implemented by the user during communication with a remote Web site, spawning a virtual machine with the browser operating system only for that instance of the Web application, wherein each virtual machine that is spawned has its own browser instance and separate set of virtual resources, and wherein the browser operating system routes input events to a browser instance in an appropriate one of the virtual machines; and (c) substantially precluding direct communication between the virtual machines that have been spawned, between the Web applications, and between each Web application and the main operating system, and precluding sharing of the resources between the virtual machines, so that Web applications are protected from each other and so that the main operating system is protected from the Web applications and from security threats on the network.