Patent ID: 8209740

Claim:
A method for controlling access to a computer network, the method comprising: intercepting by a network access controller a data transmission to or from a computer, wherein the network access controller includes a device associated with the network that has the highest performance rating among a plurality of computers in the network, and wherein the performance rating is determined based on the device's configuration and network topology; identifying by the network access controller a network access policy associated with said computer; if there is a network access policy associated with said computer, allowing the data transmission to or from said computer based on the associated network access policy; if there is no network access policy associated with said computer, deploying on said computer an administration agent configured to collect configuration information from said computer and information about topology of said network and send the collected information to the network access controller; determining by the network access controller a network access policy for said computer based on the collected information; redirecting the intercepted data transmission based on the network access policy; activating via the administrative agent of said computer an antivirus software on said computer, the antivirus software configured to perform antivirus analysis of said computer, and, if a malicious activity is detected on said computer, report about said activity to the network access controller; and limiting by the network access controller data transmissions to or from said computer until the malicious activity is eliminated by the antivirus software to prevent spread of the malicious activity to other computers in the network.