Patent ID: 8136149
Filing Date: 2012-03-13
Classification: H04L

Abstract:
1. A method for controlling access from a client to a particular application running on a server, the method comprising: placing a client security agent at the client and a security agent at the server; defining firewall rules specifying filtering conditions for incoming network traffic from the client to the server, said firewall rules including an application attribute that allows individual rules to be associated with specific applications, said firewall rules also including extended attributes enforced by said client agent and said server agent that allow different types of communication protocols to be used to access the particular application running on the server, the particular type of communication protocols allowed at a specific point in time being contingent on which additional conditions of said extended attributes the client meets at that time; intercepting incoming network traffic destined for the particular application for which a particular application-specific firewall rule with extended attributes has been created; examining the extended attributes for said particular application-specific firewall rule, for determining what additional conditions of said extended attributes the client satisfies, in order to determine what type of communication protocol can be used to access the particular application running on the server; if the client complies with said additional conditions for a particular type of communication protocol specified in said extended attributes, allowing the client to communicate with the particular application running on the server using said particular type of communication protocol; and otherwise blocking the client from communicating with the particular application running on the server.