Patent ID: 7856653
Filing Date: 2010-12-21
Classification: H04L

Abstract:
1. A computer implemented method for protecting policy state information during the lifetime of a virtual machine, the computer implemented method comprising: creating by a processing unit of a data processing system a source policy in combination with a first extension; creating by the processing unit a mapping policy, wherein the mapping policy maps between the source policy and a binary policy; and contains a second extension and a hash of the source policy and the first extension; creating by the processing unit the binary policy, wherein the binary policy contains a hash of the mapping policy and the second extension; and wherein the source policy, the mapping policy, and the binary policy form a chain of different representations of a security policy, wherein the first extension and the second extension are user defined and are used to customize the security policy to a particular environment; and determining compatibility of the security policy with another security policy using the binary policy.