Patent ID: 8064882

Claim:
A method comprising: receiving, at an authentication server, a request for access of a mobile node to a network from an access device; sending the request from the authentication server to a home location register (HLR), wherein the HLR comprises a central database having information about the mobile node and a user associated with the mobile node; receiving a response from the HLR, the response indicating whether the mobile node is authenticated to access the network via the access device; granting the mobile node access to the network based upon the response indicating that the mobile node is authenticated; determining, with a network element, whether the mobile node contributes to a malicious activity in the network; identifying, with the network element, a security issue of the mobile node based upon determining that the mobile node contributes to the malicious activity in the network; terminating the access of the mobile node to the network based on the network element identifying the security issue of the mobile node; placing the mobile node on a blacklist after the access of the mobile node to the network is terminated, the blacklist characterized as being in the authentication server and separate from the central database, through: the network element identifying the security issue, and the authentication server adding identification information for the mobile node to the blacklist at the authentication server; and denying, at the authentication server, subsequent requests for access to the network by a blacklisted mobile node before the subsequent requests are routed to the HLR.