Patent ID: 8578002

Claim:
A method for passively and automatically enforcing a network configuration and usage policy on a network, comprising: predefining the network configuration and usage policy for a service specific to network devices on the network; passively determining, at a processor disposed between a source device and a destination device, in response to plural protocol fields in one packet transmitted on the network from the source device to the destination device, that one of the network devices on the network is running the service by reading, decoding, and analyzing one or more packets transmitted on the network, by comparing the plural protocol fields in the one packet to a service identifying structure to determine the service, wherein the packet is in traffic passively moving across the network; performing an action at the processor, the action being identified by the network configuration and usage policy as being for the service specific to the one of the network devices that was passively determined from the packet, the action being different for different services; and identifying two or more service events by reading, decoding, and analyzing two or more packets transmitted on the network for each of the two or more service events, the protocol fields being network, transport, and application protocol fields, wherein the network configuration and usage policy for the service comprises identifying if the two or more service events are of a same type and if a number of the two or more service events of the same type exceeds a threshold number of service events within a predefined time period.