1. A computer system that monitors digital file changes, comprising: a processing unit that accepts a request to write an input data stream to a first file accessible within the computer system; and a storage device coupled to the processing unit and comprising a second file, the first file being a virtualized representation of the second file; wherein the processing unit further parses an input attribute from the input data stream, the attribute comprising an input identifier and an associated input value; and wherein the processing unit signals an event if the input attribute matches an identifier designated as a monitored attribute identifier of the second file.