Patent ID: 7512981

Claim:
A method for remotely monitoring each of a plurality of network intrusion protection systems with a remote monitoring center, the method comprising: transmitting a configuration file from the remote monitoring center to configure each network intrusion prevention system; configuring each network intrusion prevention system with a respective configuration file; determining whether a communication represents a security risk with each network intrusion prevention system and after being configured and without control from the remote monitoring center and independently of the remote monitoring center, each network intrusion prevention system comprising a firewall, an intrusion detector, and a remote monitoring controller communication module that couples the network intrusion prevention system to the remote monitoring center; blocking a communication from passing to a computer network with each network intrusion prevention system if the communication meets certain rules; generating an alert signal by each network intrusion prevention system in response to a determination by a respective network intrusion system that the communication represents a security risk; sending each alert signal to the remote monitoring center; monitoring each network intrusion prevention system with the remote monitoring center for issuance of an alert signal by a respective network intrusion prevention system in response to a determination by a respective network intrusion system that the communication represents a security risk; and determining with the remote monitoring center whether a respective network intrusion prevention system has sent a request to customize its configuration after a respective network intrusion prevention system has received its configuration file from the remote monitoring center, the request to customize comprising at least one security parameter, each security parameter comprising at least one of severity and attack event type.