A method performed by a first client-side device agent, instantiated on a hardware device that is configured to connect to a data-handling network via associated device circuitry, comprising receiving configuration data in the form of non-executable data, configuring the first client-side device agent such that the first client-side device agent has a first configuration specifying a first application on the hardware device, monitoring substantially in real-time a flow of packets between the of applications and a server-side device, selecting packets based on their association with the application, modifying or appending packet header information for the selected packets, and transmitting modified or appended packets configured such that they are routed based on the modified or appended packet header information.