Patent ID: 7366893

Claim:
A method for initializing a network device, the method comprising the steps of: retrieving an initial communication address from a local memory of the network device; transmitting a secure identifier to the initial communications address, the secure identifier identifying the network device; verifying the authenticity of the secure identifier; retrieving a configuration record from a configuration record repository, the configuration record indicating which features of the network device are to be enabled, and the configuration record repository including at least one separate configuration record for each of a plurality of network devices, each of the at least one separate configuration records enabling a corresponding one of the plurality of network devices to be reconfigured in the event an attacker alters configurations of the plurality of network devices, the retrieved configuration record being associated with the network device that corresponds to the secure identifier, each of the plurality of network devices being capable of having multiple configuration records, wherein each of the multiple configuration records for each of the plurality of network devices represents different configurations at different time frames; receiving at least an indication of the configuration record at the network device; and installing the at least an indication of the configuration record at the network device.