Patent ID: 8010689
Filing Date: 2011-08-30
Classification: H04L

Abstract:
1. An article of manufacture including program code embodied on a memory which, when executed by a machine, causes the machine to perform a method, the method comprising: maintaining a tiered location configuration for a capture system of a network having private internet protocol (IP) addresses, the capture system being configured for a network security application in which filtering occurs such that certain flows originated at a first computer are prohibited from reaching their originally intended destination; maintaining a list of private internet protocol (IP) address relationships to tier location configuration values for the capture system; capturing a packet with the capture system; classifying the packet into a plurality of tiers included within the tiered location configuration by comparing source and destination IP addresses associated with the packet to a tier mapping element maintained by the capture system, and wherein a selected first one of tiers identifies a geographic characteristic associated with the packet, and a selected second one of the tiers identifies a separate location characteristic associated with the packet, and a selected third one of the tiers identifies a division of a company, and a selected fourth one of the tiers identifies a building from which the packet originated, wherein the tiered location configuration includes separate tiers having different levels of detail; and receiving a search query specifying a selected one of the levels of detail associated with the tiered location configuration.