Restricting communication of selected processes to a set of specific network addresses

1. A computer system for restricting network address based communication, comprising:

means for associating at least one selected process with at least two network addresses;

means for determining whether an attempted network address-based communication of a selected process is via an associated address; and

means for allowing the communication to proceed if the communication is via an associated address.

2. The computer system of claim 1 further comprising:

means for loading at least one selected process into computer memory; and

means for storing at least one association, between the process and at least one network address.

3. The computer system of claim 1 wherein:

associations between selected processes and network addresses are stored in an association table in a computer memory of the computer system.

4. The computer system of claim 3 wherein:

the association table is stored in operating system address space.

5. The computer system of claim 1 wherein:

a network address-based communication comprises an attempt to designate a network address to be used for subsequent communication.

6. The computer system of claim 1 wherein:

a network address-based communication comprises an attempt to associate a communication channel with a network address.

7. The computer system of claim 1 wherein:

a network address-based communication comprises an attempt to communicate without designating a network address to be used for communication.

8. The computer system of claim 1 wherein:

a network address-based communication comprises an attempt to establish a connection to a second process.

9. The computer system of claim 1 wherein:

a network address-based communication comprises an attempt to transmit data to a second process.

10. The computer system of claim 9 wherein:

the second process is executing in a computer memory of the computer system.

11. The computer system of claim 9 wherein:

the second process executes in a computer memory of a second computer system.

12. The computer system of claim 1 further comprising:

means for determining whether an attempted network address-based communication is via an associated address by intercepting system calls that pertain to network address-based communication.

13. The computer system of claim 1 further comprising:

means for associating a child process of a selected process with a single network address with which the selected process is associated;

means for determining whether network address-based communication of the child process is via the associated address; and

means for allowing the communication to proceed if it is determined that the communication is via the associated address.

14. The computer system of claim 1 further comprising:

means for associating a child process of a selected process with at least two network addresses with which the selected process is associated;

means for determining whether network address-based communication of the child process is via an associated address; and

means for allowing the communication to proceed if it is determined that the communication is via an associated address.

15. The computer system of claim 1 further comprising:

means for detecting termination of a selected process; and

means for deleting all associations between the process and network addresses.

16. A computer system for restricting network address-based communication by selected processes to a set of specific network addresses, comprising:

means for associating at least one selected process with at least two network addresses;

means for determining whether an attempted network address-based communication of a selected process is via an associated address; and

means for not allowing the attempted communication to proceed if it is determined that the attempted communication is not via an associated address.

17. A computer system for restricting network address-based communication by selected processes to specific network addresses, comprising:

means for associating at least two selected processes with at least one network address;

means for detecting an attempt by a selected process to associate a communication channel with a network address; and

means for determining whether the network address with which the selected process is attempting to associate a communication channel is associated with the selected process.

18. The computer system of claim 17 further comprising:

allowing the communication channel to be associated with the network address if it is determined that the network address is associated with the selected process.

19. A computer system for restricting network address-based communication by selected processes to specific network addresses, the method comprising:

means for associating at least one selected process with at least two network addresses;

means for detecting an attempt by a selected process to associate a communication channel with a network address, wherein a provided value for the network address comprises a wild card; and

means for associating the communication channel with a network address that is associated with the process.

20. The computer system of claim 19 , the computer system further comprising:

means for associating the communication channel with one of the at least two network addresses, resulting in a communication channel-network address pair;

means for establishing one communication channel per each additional one of the at least two network addresses;

means for associating each established communication channel with one of the at least two network addresses, resulting in additional communication channel-network address pairs; and

means for associating the communication channel with the communication channel, network address pairs.

21. A computer system for restricting network address-based communication by selected processes to specific network addresses, comprising:

means for associating at least two selected processes with a unique local host address;

means for detecting an attempt by a selected process to communicate with a local host; and

means for designating the unique local host address associated with the selected process to be used by the selected process to communicate with the local host.

22. A computer system for restricting network address-based communication by selected processes to specific network addresses, comprising:

means for associating at least one selected process with at least two network addresses;

means for detecting an attempt by a selected process to communicate with a second process via a communication channel;

means for determining if the communication channel is associated with a network address; and

means for associating the communication channel with a network address that is associated with the process if it is determined that the communication channel is not associated with a network address.

23. A computer system for restricting network address-based communication by selected processes to specific network addresses, comprising:

means for associating at least one selected process with at least two network addresses;

means for detecting an attempt by a selected process to establish a connection between a communication channel and a second process;

means for determining if the communication channel is associated with a network address; and

means for associating the communication channel with a network address that is associated with the selected process if it is determined that the communication channel is not associated with a network address.

24. A computer system for restricting network address-based communication by selected processes to a set of specific network addresses, comprising:

a processor and one or more memories;

a component configured to associate at least two selected processes with at least one network address;

a component configured to determine whether an attempted network address-based communication of a selected process is via an associated address; and

a component configured to, in response to a determination that the communication is via an associated address, allow the communication to proceed.

25. The computer system of claim 24 further comprising:

a component configured to load at least one selected process into computer memory; and

a component configured to store at least one association between the process and at least one network address.

26. A computer system for restricting network address-based communication by selected processes to a set of specific network addresses:

a processor and one or more memories;

a component configured to associate at least one selected process with at least two network addresses;

a component configured to determine whether an attempted network address-based communication of a selected process is via an associated address;

a component configured to, in response to a determination that the communication is not via an associated address, not allow the attempted communication to proceed.

27. A computer system for restricting network address-based communication by selected processes to specific network addresses, comprising:

a component configured to associate at least one selected process with at least two network addresses;

a component configured to detect an attempt by a selected process to associate a communication channel with a network address; and

a component configured to determine whether the network address with which the selected process is attempting to associate a communication channel is associated with the selected process.

28. A computer system for restricting network address-based communication by selected processes to specific network addresses, comprising:

a processor and one or more memories;

a component configured to associate at least two selected processes with at least one network address;

a component configured to detect an attempt by a selected process to associate a communication channel with a network address, wherein a provided value for the network address comprises a wild card; and

a component configured to associate the communication channel with a network address that is associated with the process.

29. The computer system of claim 28 wherein the selected process is associated with multiple network addresses; the computer system comprising:

a component configured to associate the communication channel with one of the multiple network addresses, resulting in a communication channel-network address pair;

a component configured to establish one communication channel per each additional one of the multiple network addresses;

a component configured to associate each established communication channel with one of the multiple network addresses, resulting in additional communication channel-network address pairs; and

a component configured to associate the communication channel with the communication channel, network address pairs.

30. A computer system for restricting network address-based communication by selected processes to specific network addresses, comprising:

a component configured to associate at least two selected processes with a unique local host address;

a component configured to detect an attempt by a selected process to communicate with a local host; and

a component configured to designate the unique local host address associated with the selected process to be used by the selected process to communicate with the local host.

31. A computer system for restricting network address-based communication by selected processes to specific network addresses, comprising:

a component configured to associate at least one selected process with at least two network addresses;

a component configured to detect an attempt by a selected process to communicate with a second process via a communication channel;

a component configured to determine if the communication channel is associated with a network address; and

a component configured to, in response to determining that the communication channel is not associated with a network address, associate the communication channel with a network address that is associated with the process.

32. A computer system for restricting network address-based communication by selected processes to specific network addresses, comprising:

a component configured to associate at least one selected process with at least two network addresses;

a component configured to detect an attempt by a selected process to establish a connection between a communication channel and a second process;

a component configured to determine if the communication channel is associated with a network address; and

a component configured to, in response to determining that the communication channel is not associated with a network address, associate the communication channel with a network address that is associated with the selected process.

33. The computer system of claim 32 further comprising:

a component configured to, in response to a determination that the communication channel is associated with a network address that is not associated with the selected process, not allow the connection to be established.

34. A computer system for restricting network address-based communication by selected processes to a set of specific network addresses, comprising:

a component configured to associate at least two selected processes with at least one network address;

a component configured to detect when a selected process attempts to communicate via an unassociated address; and

a component configured to not allow the attempted communication to proceed.

35. A computer system for restricting network address-based communication by selected processes to a set of specific network addresses, comprising:

a component configured to associate at least one selected process with at least two network addresses;

a component configured to detect when an elected process attempts to communicate via an unassociated address; and

a component configured to not allow attempted communication to proceed.