A network security system, comprising: a plurality of processing nodes communicatively coupled to an authority node via a network, each of the plurality of processing nodes and the authority node are separately connected to the network, and wherein the authority node is configured to store and distribute policy data (113, 123) to each of the plurality of processing nodes, each processing node comprising a processing node manager configured to perform operations comprising: identifying a content item; generating a security request for the content item, the security request including one or more time constraints; determining whether a first security operation for the security request can be performed by the authority node within the one or more time constraints; and transmitting the security request to the authority node if the processing node determines that the first security operation can be performed within the one or more time constraints; determining if the first security operation is not performed within the one or more time constraints after the security request is transmitted; and performing a second security operation different from the first security operation on the content item at the processing node if the processing node manager determines that the first security operation cannot be performed or is not performed within the one or more time constraints. a plurality of processing nodes communicatively coupled to an authority node via a network, each of the plurality of processing nodes and the authority node are separately connected to the network, and wherein the authority node is configured to store and distribute policy data (113, 123) to each of the plurality of processing nodes, each processing node comprising a processing node manager configured to perform operations comprising: identifying a content item; generating a security request for the content item, the security request including one or more time constraints; determining whether a first security operation for the security request can be performed by the authority node within the one or more time constraints; and transmitting the security request to the authority node if the processing node determines that the first security operation can be performed within the one or more time constraints; identifying a content item; generating a security request for the content item, the security request including one or more time constraints; determining whether a first security operation for the security request can be performed by the authority node within the one or more time constraints; and transmitting the security request to the authority node if the processing node determines that the first security operation can be performed within the one or more time constraints; determining if the first security operation is not performed within the one or more time constraints after the security request is transmitted; and performing a second security operation different from the first security operation on the content item at the processing node if the processing node manager determines that the first security operation cannot be performed or is not performed within the one or more time constraints.