US Patent 7509673 Multi-layered firewall architecture

A method and system are provided for implementing a firewall architecture in a network device. The firewall architecture includes a plurality of network layers, a first firewall engine, and one or more callout modules. The layers send packets and packet information to the first firewall engine, maintain and pass packet context to subsequent layers, and process the packets. The first firewall engine compares the packet information to one or more installed filters and returns an action to the layers indicating how to treat the packet. The callouts provide additional functionality such as intrusion detection, logging, and parental control features.