Patent ID: 7581249

Claim:
A method of responding to the detection of an intrusion on a network system that provides network services, the network system including one or more attached functions and a plurality of interconnection devices, the method comprising the steps of: a. providing means for one or more attached functions to connect to one or more of a plurality of interconnection devices of the network system; b. acquiring information about the attached functions seeking access to the network services; c. determining whether one or more stored policies exist for the attached functions; d. allowing at least one of the one or more attached functions to access a selectable portion of the network services based on a policy established in one or more of the interconnection devices; e. monitoring the network system for intrusions; f. excluding from at least one of the plurality of interconnection devices a policy enforcement module for effecting its own signal transfer policy changes; g. including in at least one of the plurality of interconnection devices the capability for such interconnection device to change directly its own signal transfer policies; h. upon detection of one or more intrusions of the network, i. determining a physical address or a logical address for each attached function associated with the source of the intrusion; and ii. identifying one or more interconnection devices having a policy enforcement module and used by the identified attached function or functions to gain access to the network services; i. selectively changing one or more signal transfer policies of one or more of the plurality of interconnection devices in response to the one or more detected intrusions; and j. saving changed policies for the one or more attached functions.