Patent ID: 8488488

Claim:
A method for mitigating threats in a network, comprising: receiving a message at a network device coupled to a network comprising a plurality of different types of network devices, the message generated in response to a threat and broadcasted over the network to the network device and the plurality of different types of network devices, the message comprising a plurality of device-independent parameters capable of being processed by the network device and the plurality of different types of network devices, the plurality of device-independent parameters comprising a severity parameter and an action parameter, the severity parameter indicating a severity level for the message, the action parameter indicating a device-independent operation to be performed by the network device, the network device and the plurality of different types of network devices each having one or more mapping rules that map the device-independent operation to one or more device-specific operations operable to mitigate the threat; establishing the device-independent operation from the message; identifying the one or more mapping rules that correspond to the established device-independent operation; determining the one or more device-specific operations in accordance with the one or more identified mapping rules; converting the plurality of device-independent parameters into the one or more device-specific operations operable to mitigate the threat; and performing the one or more device-specific operations to mitigate the threat; and wherein: the device-independent operation comprises a block operation and the one or more device-specific operations comprise a re-route operation at the network device; the device-independent operation comprises a re-route operation and the one or more device-specific operations comprise a drop operation at the network device; or the device-independent operation comprises a log operation and the one or more device-specific operations comprise a re-route operation at the network device.