FIREWALL FOR CONTROLLING CONNECTIONS BETWEEN A CLIENT MACHINE AND A NETWORK
First Claim
1. A firewall system for controlling connections between a client machine and a network, the firewall system being adapted for location outside the client machine, the firewall system comprising:
- at least one processor configured to;
receive incoming and outgoing connections from the network and client machine respectively; and
in response to a connection request, initiate a connection between respective endpoints in the network and client machine, perform a security assessment comprising obtaining from at least one of the network and client machine information indicative of the security state of the endpoint therein, and allow or inhibit the connection in dependence on the result of the security assessment.
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0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A firewall system adapted for location outside the client machine, preferably in the same data processing device as the client machine but outside a virtual machine containing the client machine. Control logic of the firewall system receives incoming and outgoing connections from the network and client machine respectively. In response to a connection request initiating a connection between respective endpoints in the network and client machine, the control logic performs a security assessment comprising obtaining from at least one of the network and client machine information indicative of the security state of the endpoint therein, and allows or inhibits the connection in dependence on the result of the security assessment. The security assessment may be performed in accordance with a security policy of the system, and different security assessments may be performed for different connection requests in accordance with the security policy.
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Citations
16 Claims
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1. A firewall system for controlling connections between a client machine and a network, the firewall system being adapted for location outside the client machine, the firewall system comprising:
at least one processor configured to; receive incoming and outgoing connections from the network and client machine respectively; and in response to a connection request, initiate a connection between respective endpoints in the network and client machine, perform a security assessment comprising obtaining from at least one of the network and client machine information indicative of the security state of the endpoint therein, and allow or inhibit the connection in dependence on the result of the security assessment. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A computer program comprising a computer-usable medium having embodied therein computer-readable program codes for causing a computer to implement a firewall system for controlling connections between a client machine and a network, the firewall system being adapted for location outside the client machine, the computer-readable program codes configured to:
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receive incoming and outgoing connections from the network and client machine respectively; and in response to a connection request, initiate a connection between respective endpoints in the network and client machine, perform a security assessment comprising obtaining from at least one of the network and client machine information indicative of the security state of the endpoint therein, and allow or inhibit the connection in dependence on the result of the security assessment.
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13. A data processing system comprising a client machine and a firewall system for controlling connections between the client machine and a network, wherein the firewall system is located outside the client machine and comprises control logic adapted for:
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receiving incoming and outgoing connections from the network and client machine respectively; and in response to a connection request initiating a connection between respective endpoints in the network and client machine, performing a security assessment comprising obtaining from at least one of the network and client machine information indicative of the security state of the endpoint therein, and allowing or inhibiting the connection in dependence on the result of the security assessment. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16)
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Specification