File this one under “Remember for the future.”
This week at the RSA Conference, researchers will show off their database-oriented operating system, or DBOS for short. The idea? Rather than a file-based operating system, a database-driven one is structured around databases that save and track all events and changes occurring within the OS. That should mean recovering from ransomware means rolling back a machine to the previously safe state within minutes. With a file-based system, users still have to make backups of that data, which can also be infected with malicious malware if not set up correctly. Additionally, recovery using those backups takes up additional time, as well. Recovery can occur within minutes using the new systems.
A key element – because it’s table-based, every change is recorded.
Why do we care?
This is distinctly long-term but an idea I want to consider in the larger context of “question assumptions.” Providers are precisely the group to raise use cases and new implementations that product designers had not considered, and reexamining old assumptions is worthwhile as the landscape changes. Put this on your radar.