A method for implementing a security protocol, involving receiving a packet from a network connection, obtaining an identifier for one of a plurality of security association database (SADB) partitions associated with the packet, wherein each of the plurality of SADB partitions is associated with one of a plurality of packet destinations, applying a security association from the one of the plurality of SADB partitions to the packet, and sending the packet to the one of the plurality of packet destinations associated with the SADB partition, wherein the packet is processed at the one of the plurality of packet destinations.