Patent Document ID: 9985984
Application ID: 14923049
Patent Flag: 1

Claim One:
1. A method for improving security of a network to attacks, the method comprising: repeatedly modifying addresses of a plurality of devices on a local network, wherein repeatedly modifying an address of a device in the plurality of devices comprises: generating a first pair of addresses for the device on the local network, wherein the first pair of addresses comprises an original address of the device and a first reconfigured address, wherein the first reconfigured address is randomly generated; distributing the first pair of addresses to a first switch on the local network to facilitate routing of a first data packet to the device, wherein the original device address in the first data packet has been replaced with the first reconfigured address, wherein the first reconfigured address is generated and distributed to the first switch to dynamically alter the address of the device on the local network, and further wherein the first reconfigured address is generated and distributed in accordance with one of a schedule having a defined configuration timing or a schedule having a random configuration timing; receiving, at the first switch, the first data packet having the first reconfigurable address; identifying, at the first switch, the original device address of the device based upon the first reconfigurable address in the first data packet; at the first switch, responsive to identifying the original device address of the device, routing the first data packet to the device based upon the original device address of the device; generating a second pair of addresses for the device on the local network, wherein the second pair of addresses comprises the original address of the device and a second reconfigured address, wherein the second reconfigured address is randomly generated; and distributing the second pair of addresses to a second switch on the local network to facilitate routing of a second data packet to the device, wherein the original device address in the second data packet has been replaced with the second reconfigured address, the second reconfigured address being different from the first reconfigured address; receiving, at the second switch, the second data packet having the second reconfigurable address; identifying, at the second switch, the original device address of the device based upon the second reconfigurable address in the second data packet; and at the second switch, responsive to identifying the original device address of the device, routing the second data packet to the device based upon the original device address of the device.