Patent ID: 7716726

Claim:
A network security system for protecting a computing device from an identified security threat on a network, the network security system comprising: a network security module, which comprises a physical device, configured to be interposed between the computing device and the network such that all network activities between the computing device and the network pass through the network security module, wherein the network security module comprising: a computing device connection connecting the network security module to the computing device; a network connection connecting the network security module to the network; a decoder module that temporarily decrypts a secured communication using a decryption key obtained from a decoding module on the computing device over a secondary communication connection configured to connect the network security module to the communication device; a network security module memory that stores security measures and information regarding a current configuration of the computing device, the current configuration information obtained from the computing device irrespective of a query by the network security module, wherein the network security module can continue to obtain the security measures and information regarding the current configuration of the computing device from a network security service computer even when the computing device is powered off; and a security enforcement module that controls network activities between the computing device and the network by implementing the obtained security measures that correspond to the current configuration of the computing device, thereby protecting the computing device from an identified security threat on the network.