Patent ID: 8576881

Claim:
A method of transparently provisioning first and second services to a network, the first service being provided by a first application service provider to the network via a first application and the second service being provided by a second application service provider to the network via a second application, the network carrying a plurality of packets each being transmitted by a source to at least one intended destination intended by the source, each packet of the plurality of packets comprising routing data operative to cause the forwarding of the packet via the network towards the at least one intended destination, the method comprising: interfacing between the first application and an interface to the network; interfacing between the second application and the interface to the network; intercepting, via the interface, each packet of the plurality of packets prior to a forwarding thereof toward the at least one intended destination; evaluating each intercepted packet based on a first specification of a first subset of the plurality of packets with respect to which the first application is to perform the first service and a second specification of a second subset of the plurality of packets with respect to which the second application is to perform the second service, wherein at least the first specification specifies the first subset based on criteria other than only the routing data contained in the intercepted packet; and acting on the intercepted packet, based on the evaluating, to facilitate the performance of at least one of the first service, the second service or a combination thereof with respect to the intercepted packet when the intercepted packet is included in at least one of the specified first subset, second subset, or combination thereof; and receiving a result of the performance of at least one of the first service, the second service or a combination thereof from the first application, the second application, or a combination thereof, respectively, wherein the acting comprises at least one of providing at least a copy of at least a portion of the intercepted packet to at least one of the first and second applications, deleting the intercepted packet, modifying the intercepted packet, substituting a modified intercepted packet for the intercepted packet, substituting a new packet for the intercepted packet, allowing the intercepted packet to continue to the at least one intended destination, or combinations thereof.