Generalized security policy management system and method

摘要

A system and method for regulating the flow of internetwork connections through a firewall having a network protocol stack which includes an Internet Protocol (IP) layer. A determination is made of the parameters characteristic of a connection request, including a netelement parameter characteristic of where the connection request came from. A query is generated and a determination is made whether there is a rule corresponding to that query. If there is a rule corresponding to the query, a determination is made whether authentication is required by the rule. If authentication is required by the rule, an authentication protocol is activated and the connection is activated if the authentication protocol is completed successfully.