Policy enforcement based on host value classification

A computer implemented method comprising:

• executing inspection instructions to determine a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) for a packet stream;
• determining whether the URI is absolute or relative, wherein the URI is relative when the URI does not include full naming scheme information;
• when the URI is relative, determining a host value from the packet stream, wherein the host value is listed outside of a header of a packet in the packet stream;
• when the URI is absolute, determining that the packet stream is associated with a proxy connection;
• determining a classification associated with the host value;
• and
• based on the classification and the determination that the URI is absolute, enforcing a policy to a plurality of packets of the packet stream.

A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed by a physical processing element of a computing device, cause the computing device to:

• determine a host value for a communication between a first device and a second device, wherein the communication includes a plurality of packets, and wherein the host value represents one of the first device and the second device;
• determine that the communication is associated with a proxy connection by:
• determining an internet protocol (IP) address in a header of a first packet of the plurality of packets,
• comparing the IP address with a list of known servers, wherein the list of known servers correspond with known reputation information, and
• based upon matching the IP address with a second IP address in the list of known servers, determining that the communication is associated with the proxy connection;
• determine a reputation of one of the first device and the second device associated with the known reputation information in the list of known servers;
• and
• based on the determination of the reputation and the communication being associated with the proxy connection, enforce a policy to the plurality of the packets of the communication.