network flow profiles to identify network flows if a network flows are identified with high certainty and are associated with previously identified network applications then network flow policies can be applied to the network flows to block throttle accelerate enhance or transform the network flows if a network flow is identified with lesser certainty or is not associated with a previously identified network application then a new network flow profile can be created from further analysis of network traffic information network host information and possibly additional network host information collected to enhance the analysis new network flow profiles can be communicated with a service provider for analysis and potential distribution to other networks application_number US 33639506 A description fig1 illustrates a system 100 for categorizing and controlling network flows according to an embodiment of the invention system 100 includes a variety of components connected with a communications network which can use packet based network protocols such as tcp ip system 100 includes a correlation engine 105 correlation engine 105 is a software component adapted to operate on a network gateway a server computer or any other type of computer or other network hardware correlation engine 105 is responsible for identifying the network traffic produced by an application referred to as a network flow and the identity of applications responsible for network flows in an embodiment the correlation engine 105 receives data about network flows from two different sources first a network traffic monitor 120 monitors network traffic or network flows in system 100 the network traffic monitor 120 is.