Patent ID: 8774186

Claim:
A method for restricting transmission of a protocol packet between a source device and a destination device linked on a network, the method comprising: transmitting a first protocol packet and a second protocol packet between the source device and the destination device; the first protocol packet including: a) a source identifier identifying the source device, b) a first protocol destination identifier indicating a first protocol destination device, and c) a first protocol data field; the second protocol packet including: d) a second protocol destination identifier indicating the destination device, and e) a second protocol data field; for the first protocol packet transmitted on the network, embedding the second protocol packet in the first protocol data field; and for each first protocol packet transmitted on the network that includes the second protocol packet embedded in the first protocol data field: intercepting the first protocol packet; examining at least a portion of the embedded second protocol packet to identify the destination device; identifying access control information associated with the destination device; identifying a first protocol packet characteristic; comparing the first protocol packet characteristic to the access control information associated with the destination device; and restricting transmission of the first protocol packet as a function of the comparing step.