Patent ID: 7469418
Filing Date: 2008-12-23
Classification: H04L

Abstract:
1. A computer-implemented method comprising: determining whether a source address for a first packet sent by the source address to a destination address qualifies as a threat, and when the source address qualifies as the threat, determining whether the destination address is synthetic; examining the first packet; determining a response to the first packet based upon the examining and based upon whether the source address qualifies as the threat; when the destination address is determined to be not synthetic and the source address is the threat, determining whether the source address is on a local network; when the source address is determined to be on a local network and the source address qualifies as the threat, determining that the response comprises creating a synthetic hardware address, and performing for each respective device of a plurality of devices on the local network: selecting the respective device, creating an address control protocol message comprising the synthetic hardware address as a message source address, inserting a corresponding hardware address for the respective device in the address control protocol message as a message destination hardware address, and sending the address control protocol message.