¹⁹An example of this strategy in action is an internet-connected personal computer system I once commissioned, running the Linux operating system from a DVD-ROM optical disk rather than a magnetic hard drive. The system would access the optical disk upon start-up to load the operating system kernel into its RAM memory, and then access the disk as needed for application executable files, shared library files, and other data. The principal use of this system was web browsing, and my intent was to make the computer as “hacker-proof” as I possibly could. Since the operating system files were stored on a read-only optical disk, it was impossible for an attacker to modify that data without having physical access to the machine. In order to thwart attacks on the data stored in the machine’s RAM memory, I configured the system to automatically shut down and re-start every day at an hour when no one would be using it. Every time the computer re-booted, its memory would be a tabula rasa (“clean slate”). Of course, this meant no one could permanently store downloaded files or other data on this machine from the internet, but from a security perspective that was the very point.