SYSTEM, APPARATUSES, METHODS AND COMPUTER-READABLE MEDIA FOR DETERMINING SECURITY STATUS OF COMPUTER BEFORE ESTABLISHING CONNECTION THERETO

摘要

The disclosed system, apparatuses, methods, and computer-readable media can be used by a computer to establish the security status (12) of another computer before establishing a network connection to it. Responsive to a request message, security state data (12) indicating this status can be incorporated into a response message (26) as one of the first few packets exchanged by computers to establish a network connection. This enables a computer to determine whether the other computer's security status is compliant with its security policy before establishing the network connection, reducing risk of infection by a virus, worm, or the like.