Patent ID: 7162649

Claim:
A computer-implemented process for authenticating a workstation requesting a network service from a network server via a computer network, comprising the steps: completing a vulnerability assessment of the workstation to identify security vulnerabilities that would compromise the secure operation of the workstation on the computer network; generating workstation security credentials based on the vulnerability assessment, the workstation security credentials comprising one of integrity information describing whether the workstation has been compromised, and security posture information describing the workstation's potential for compromise, wherein the step of generating the workstation security credentials comprises completing the vulnerability assessment of the workstation by a local workstation assessment service maintained on the workstation, the local workstation assessment service operative to generate the workstation security credentials; comparing the workstation security credentials to a workstation security policy to determine whether the workstation should be granted access to the network service; and authorizing access to the network service by the workstation if the workstation security credentials satisfy the workstation security policy, otherwise denying access to the network service by the workstation.