Patent ID: 7609167

Claim:
A system for secure networking in a virtual space comprising: a network; subscriber computing devices, wherein the subscriber computing device is associated with a subscriber identifier and wherein each computing device is connected to the network; a profile datastore, wherein the profile datastore comprises a subscriber security profile comprising information indicative of a security status of a subscriber and wherein the subscriber security profile is associated with the subscriber's subscriber identifier; an information processor connected to the network, wherein the information processor comprises instructions for: monitoring subscriber identifiers associated with the subscriber devices that are logged into a website, wherein the website defines a virtual space and the logged-in subscriber devices are characterized as present in the virtual space; serving web pages to the computing devices of the present subscribers via the network, wherein a web page of a present subscriber comprises a subscriber icon associated with the present subscriber and subscriber icons of other present subscribers; determining whether a subscriber security profile associated with the present subscriber matches the subscriber security profiles associated with the other present subscribers according to security matching criteria (herein, the “security matching determination”); in response to the security matching determination, linking the icon of the present subscriber to the icons associated with other present subscribers having security profiles that match the security profile of the subscriber according to the security matching criteria and assigning a security attribute to the icons associated with the other present subscribers having security profiles that match the security profile of the present subscriber according to security matching criteria; and providing selected security profile information to the present subscriber of a selected one of any of the other present matching subscribers.