Patent ID: 6754832
Filing Date: 2004-06-22
Classification: H04L

Abstract:
A method of searching a database of security rules for a match between the values of specified attributes in the rules and the values of corresponding attributes in a data packet, comprisingarranging the rules in the database in the order of those having the most specific attributes to those having the least specific attributes, determining if a packet is associated with a connection-oriented protocol, if the packet is associated with a connection-oriented protocol, determining if a connection is already established for this packet, if a connection is not already established for this packet, searching the security database in the order of most specific to least specific attributes for the first rule having attributes that match the corresponding attributes of the packet and storing in the memory block associated with the connection information binding to the matching security rule, if a connection is already established for this packet, omitting the step of searching the security database and using instead the information in the connection memory block identifying the security processing specified for this connection, and processing the packet according to the security information.