Patent ID: 7805525

Claim:
A method for processing a fibre channel (FC) layer service request at a target node of an FC network, the method comprising: receiving the FC layer service request from a particular initiator node; extracting a permanent identifier and a temporary identifier from the received FC layer service request; performing an active login security process when the permanent identifier extracted from the FC layer service request matches a permanent identifier stored in a login table, wherein the active login security process involves checking information from the FC layer service request against first information corresponding to at least another initiator node logged into the target node, wherein the first information is in the login table; and performing an inactive login security process when the permanent identifier extracted from the FC layer service request fails to match a permanent identifier stored in a login table, wherein the inactive login security process involves checking information from the FC layer service request against second information corresponding to at least another initiator node that is no longer logged into the target node, wherein the second information is in a login history table; wherein performing the inactive login security process comprises: generating a security breach warning if the information from the FC layer service request does not match the second information in the login history table; and permitting the particular initiator node to login if the information from the FC layer service request matches the second information in the login history table.