According to embodiments of the present invention, host platform device includes an embedded firmware agent that may detect an attempt by the host platform device to fully connect to a network. The firmware agent may restrict traffic between the host platform device and the network to bootstrap traffic, test the device to determine device vulnerability, may temporarily stop access to other peripheral devices, and transmit a report of the device vulnerability to a remote policy server. After the test(s) are performed, the firmware agent may receive an indication from the remote policy server as to whether the device is permitted to fully connect to the network and, if so, whether there are any further restrictions on traffic flow, for example, and if the peripheral device access may be allowed.