8. A method of managing a system of containers accessible to a computer system by generating and using an inventory of a plurality of protected containers in the system of containers, the plurality of protected containers being accessible to the computer system from at least one of a locally-accessible storage device, a remotely-accessible file storage system, or a storage repository, wherein each of the protected containers is executable in at least one of a plurality of execution environments characterizing the computer system, the method comprising: evaluating each container in the system of containers to determine whether at least a portion of each container is executable in at least one of the plurality of execution environments characterizing the computer system; generating the inventory including a plurality of identifiers corresponding respectively to each of the plurality of protected containers, wherein each identifier includes information specific to accessing or locating the corresponding protected container, information uniquely representing the corresponding protected container, or a combination thereof, wherein the inventory is maintained by container management and protection software including an interception module, the inventory for use by the interception module; dynamically intercepting, by the interception module, an operation request on the computer system for a targeted container, the operation request selected from a group consisting of a user-initiated request and a software process initiated request; identifying the targeted container of the intercepted operation request; analyzing the inventory of the plurality of protected containers to determine if an identifier corresponding to one of the plurality of protected containers matches that of the targeted container; allowing the operation request if the operation request is a change request and if it is determined that none of the identifiers corresponding to the plurality of protected containers matches that of the targeted container; and evaluating, if the operation request is allowed, whether an operation resulting from the operation request creates a new container that is executable in at least one of the plurality of execution environments characterizing the computer system, wherein if the new container is created then a new identifier corresponding to the new container is added to the inventory if the operation is authorized.
8. A method of managing a system of containers accessible to a computer system by generating and using an inventory of a plurality of protected containers in the system of containers, the plurality of protected containers being accessible to the computer system from at least one of a locally-accessible storage device, a remotely-accessible file storage system, or a storage repository, wherein each of the protected containers is executable in at least one of a plurality of execution environments characterizing the computer system, the method comprising: evaluating each container in the system of containers to determine whether at least a portion of each container is executable in at least one of the plurality of execution environments characterizing the computer system; generating the inventory including a plurality of identifiers corresponding respectively to each of the plurality of protected containers, wherein each identifier includes information specific to accessing or locating the corresponding protected container, information uniquely representing the corresponding protected container, or a combination thereof, wherein the inventory is maintained by container management and protection software including an interception module, the inventory for use by the interception module; dynamically intercepting, by the interception module, an operation request on the computer system for a targeted container, the operation request selected from a group consisting of a user-initiated request and a software process initiated request; identifying the targeted container of the intercepted operation request; analyzing the inventory of the plurality of protected containers to determine if an identifier corresponding to one of the plurality of protected containers matches that of the targeted container; allowing the operation request if the operation request is a change request and if it is determined that none of the identifiers corresponding to the plurality of protected containers matches that of the targeted container; and evaluating, if the operation request is allowed, whether an operation resulting from the operation request creates a new container that is executable in at least one of the plurality of execution environments characterizing the computer system, wherein if the new container is created then a new identifier corresponding to the new container is added to the inventory if the operation is authorized. 10. The method of claim 8 , wherein: the evaluating each container in the system of containers includes evaluating only a portion of contents of a container to determine whether the container is executable in at least one of a plurality of execution environments characterizing the computer system.