Patent ID: 8352725

Claim:
In a data communications device, a method of managing secure communications comprising: packet sniffing one or more network packets from a first endpoint device and traversing the data communications device destined for a second endpoint device to identify: (i) a request from a first endpoint device to initiate secure communications between the first endpoint device and the second endpoint device, and (ii) a security usage indicator in the request indicative of an intended secure session to be established between the first and second endpoint devices; analyzing the identified security usage indicator to determine an intended key to be used in establishing the secure communications; computing a secure usage result indicative of whether to allow the intended secure session to be established, comprising: mapping one or more attributes of the intended key to a respective one or more entries within a data store; and applying one or more rules corresponding to the one or more entries within the data store to compute the secure usage result, wherein each of the one or more rules is associated with a respective priority value indicating a relative priority of the rule with respect to the other rules; and enforcing the computed secure usage result by selectively allowing and prohibiting establishment of the intended secure session for secure communications between the first and second endpoint devices, comprising at least one of (i) disallowing communications, (ii) allowing secure communications pending further key usage authorization results, (iii) logging communications, and (iv) allowing secure communications.