A security device for processing network flows includes packet processing cards with packet processors formed thereon where each packet processing card stores local counter values for one or more events and a packet processing manager including global event counters to maintain event statistics for events in the security device. In one embodiment, the packet processing manager stores a copy of the local counter value of an event for each packet processor reporting the event in the counter memory and the global event counter provides a global counter sum value for the event by summing the copies of local counter values in the local memory. In another embodiment, the global counter sum is compared to a threshold value to put the event in a conforming state or non-conforming state. The packet processing manager sends a multicast message to the interested packet processors indicating an event has transitioned to a non-conforming state.