Patent ID: 9544273
Date: 2017-01-10
CPC Classifications: H04L

Claim:
1. A system for processing network traffic in a computer network, the system comprising: a hardware-accelerated inspection unit to process the network traffic in hardware-accelerated inspection mode, the hardware-accelerated unit comprising an integrated circuit that is customized to inspect the network traffic for signatures; and a software inspection unit to process the network traffic in software inspection mode, the software inspection unit comprising a processor that executes instructions in memory to inspect the network traffic for signatures, wherein the software inspection unit processes a connection in the network traffic in the software inspection mode to detect a signature match, and if the connection is determined by the software inspection unit to not have a signature match or a potential signature match for at least a consecutive predetermined number of bytes of the connection, the connection is transitioned to the hardware-accelerated inspection mode for processing by the hardware-accelerated inspection unit, wherein if the hardware-accelerated inspection unit detects a potential signature match, the connection is transitioned back to the software inspection mode to perform deep packet inspection on the connection.