A network device may receive a packet flow, and may identify an application associated with the packet flow. The network device may determine that packets associated with the application are not to be encrypted using a security protocol. The network device may store a rule that indicates that the packets are not to be encrypted using the security protocol based on determining that the packets are not to be encrypted using the security protocol. The rule may include network layer information or transport layer information associated with the packet flow, and may exclude application layer information associated with the packet flow. The network device may transmit, based on the rule, the packets without using the security protocol to encrypt the packets.