Network device identification

The apparatus in a computer network system comprising:

• one or more processors;
• and
• a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising stored program code, the program code comprised of computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, causes the processor to:
• maintain a database of one or more computer devices registered at a computer network, the database comprising network-based identification data and physical location data of the one or more of the computer devices;
• detect a connection request from a new computer device to the computer network based on comparing network-based identification data of the new computer device with the network-based identification data stored in the database;
• determine a physical location of the new computer device;
• compare the physical location of the new computer device with the physical location data stored in the database;
• in response to detecting a previously registered computer device of the one or more computer devices having at least an approximately same physical location as the new computer device based on comparing the physical location of the new computer device with the physical location data stored in the database, determine that a change has occurred in network-based identification data of the previously registered computer device;
• and
• take further action to protect the one or more computer devices from a security threat caused by the change of the network-based identification data of the previously registered computer device.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising stored program code, the program code comprised of computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a processor, causes the processor to:

• maintain a database of one or more computer devices registered at a computer network, the database comprising network-based identification data and physical location data of the one or more computer devices;
• detect a connection request from a new computer device to the computer network based on comparing network-based identification data of the new computer device with the network-based identification data stored in the database;
• determine a physical location of the new computer device;
• compare the physical location of the new computer device with the physical location data stored in the database;
• in response to detecting a previously registered computer device of the one or more computer devices having at least an approximately same physical location with the new computer device based on the comparison, determine that the network-based identification data has changed for the previously registered computer device;
• and
• take further action to protect the one or more computer devices from a security threat caused by the detected change of the network-based identification data.