Patent ID: 8407758

Claim:
A method of securing a networked device using a security appliance, the security appliance coupling the networked device to a data network, the method comprising the steps of: receiving, at the security appliance, encrypted management connection data originating from a management server connected to the data network, from packets addressed to the networked device; sending, to the management server, device attributes associated with the networked device, utilizing the address associated with the networked device as the originating address for the packet; receiving, at the security appliance, encrypted configuration data from the management server, from packets addressed to the networked device, wherein the configuration data is selected by the management server based upon the device attributes; managing packets between the networked device and other devices accessible through the data network based upon the configuration data; and sending a plurality of encrypted heartbeat messages to the management server utilizing the address associated with the networked device as the originating address for the packet.