Patent ID: 7720980

Claim:
An apparatus for managing network traffic exchanged with a proscribed application capable of taking evasive action, comprising: a processor; a memory; and computer-executable program code stored in a storage medium and executable by the processor, the computer-executable program code comprising a flow analyzer module comprising computer-executable instructions for analyzing flow characteristics of network traffic comprising a multiplicity of transient packets each including a parameterized header, comprising: a parser module comprising computer-executable instructions configured, when executed by the processor, to cause the processor to retrieve operational characteristics from the parameterized header of each such transient packet generated by a plurality of intercommunicating applications; a comparator module comprising computer-executable instructions configured, when executed by the processor, to cause the processor to identify a proscribed application by comparing the operational characteristics to stored characteristics unique to the proscribed application; and a flow monitor module comprising computer-executable instructions configured, when executed by the processor, to cause the processor to control transmission of each such transient packet subsequently exchanged with the proscribed application, comprising: a traffic manager module comprising computer-executable instructions configured, when executed by the processor, to cause the processor to dynamically and incrementally restrict bandwidth allocated to the network traffic specifically exchanged with the proscribed application until an evasive action is detected, wherein the evasive action comprises an action associated with the proscribed application that changes one or more operational characteristics of network traffic of the proscribed application.