A method in an example embodiment includes creating an initial information package for a device in a domain of a network environment when the device is unconfigured. The method further includes communicating the initial information package to a signing authority, receiving an authorization token from the signing authority, and sending the authorization token to the unconfigured device, where the unconfigured device validates the authorization token based on a credential in the unconfigured device. In more specific embodiments, the initial information package includes a unique device identifier of the unconfigured device and a domain identifier of the domain. In further embodiments, the signing authority creates the authorization token by applying an authorization signature to the unique device identifier and the domain identifier. In other embodiments, the method includes receiving an audit history report of the unconfigured device and applying a policy to the device based on the audit history report.