Abstract: In one embodiment according to the principle of this present invention, a communication IC embeds a plurality of network function modules; at least one hardware module interface provides a plurality of interfaces where a plurality of hardware modules can be coupled, said hardware modules comprise secret keys corresponding to their functionalities: a second memory device stores a plurality of software modules and at least one software key, said software key corresponds to at least one function of said software modules: a general network module couples to said bus and comprises general module key corresponding to their functionalities in the system: and/or a first memory device stores at least one hardware key, said hardware key corresponds to at least one of said network function modules.

Abstract: The present invention discloses a distributed network security system. At least one probe unit is distributed in links before at least one end-node within a network, the probe units are adapted to provide a plurality of network securities and/or management means for the network and a plurality of management units couples to the network, the plurality of management units are adapted to manage the probe units, wherein the plurality of management units includes a central master unit and a plurality of boss units. The plurality of network and management measures can be directly applied to specific end-nodes, such as communication policing, content filtering and monitoring. These probe units are configured through a central master unit and each of the probe units may have different configurations according to the demand of network administrators.