Patent ID: 8312530

Claim:
An apparatus for providing security in a network environment, comprising: a network element providing security for a network, the network element inspecting incoming communications that are entering the network to determine validity prior to forwarding the incoming communications to the network, wherein the validity of the incoming communications is determined based on a shared secret received from an end user associated with the incoming communications, the network element further operable to: receive a communication flow that propagates through an access gateway, the communication flow being initiated by the end user associated with the communication flow and propagating through the network; receive from the access gateway accounting information, the accounting information generated by accounting software, the accounting information indicating the communication flow associated with the end user has terminated, the accounting information further indicating an IP address assigned to the end user prior to disconnecting from or logging off the network; determine from the accounting information the IP address assigned to the end user prior to disconnecting from or logging off the network; determine that an entry associated with the determined IP address of the end user prior to disconnecting from or logging off the network exists in a database; in response, removing the entry associated with the determined IP address of the end user from the database; and wherein the network element is operable to determine from the accounting information that the communication flow associated with the end user has terminated even though the network element does not maintain a direct connection with the end user.