File locking method and apparatus

A file locker manages the storage and use of protected data for software objects. A protected environment maintains the cryptographic and isolative infrastructure to support sealing of data items for use by a trusted agent. The file locker uses the protected environment's sealing functionality to seal data items for the file locker's exclusive access. The file locker seals, to itself, files received from software objects, and provides those files upon request, and upon sufficient proof of the requestor's trustworthiness, authenticity, and/or identity. The file locker may be used to extend the protected environment's sealing functionality to legacy applications, without the legacy applications having to implement agents that can run in the protected environment and access the sealing functionality directly.