Patent ID: 7823196

Claim:
A method comprising: receiving a public service message associated with a session between a first and a second security appliances at the first security appliance from the second security appliance via a public network, the public service message being destined to a first network device coupled to the first security appliance, the public service message including one of a public service request and a public service response; in response to the public service message, determining whether a secure communication path exists between the first and the second security appliances, wherein said determining whether the secure communication path exists comprises: examining the public service message to determine if the public service message contains a first public Internet Protocol (IP) address, and checking whether the first public IP address corresponds to the existing secure communication path if the public service message contains the first public IP address; re-routing session data to the secure communication path if the secure communication path exists between the first and the second security appliances; and if the secure communication path exists between the first and the second security appliances, splitting control signals of the session from the data of the session to prepare for transmitting the control signals and the data of the session via different paths between the first and the second security appliances, using the secure communication path to transmit data of the session without the control signals, and transmitting the control signals without the data of the session via a non-secured communication path in the public network between the first and second security appliances.