New Open-Source OS Will Feature 'Disposable' Virtual Machines

"Invisible Things Lab is creating these lightweight, throwaway VMs that work with traditional virtual machines in Qubes, the open-source, Xen-based OS it plans to release in beta later this summer. Qubes was architected to minimize the attack surface in the VM environment.

"Disposable VMs don't provide persistent storage and are launched on a per-document basis to open a PDF, PowerPoint, or music or video file, for instance, according to Joanna Rutkowska, founder and CEO of Invisible Things Lab. They provide a safe sandbox for opening a file or attachment: If a file opened by a disposable VM is infected, the only thing it can hurt is the throwaway VM itself, not any other applications or files."

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