Patent ID: 9374378
Filing Date: 2016-06-21
CPC Classification: H04L

Claim Text:
1. An access method for accessing a protected communication service via a public communication network by means of a secure communication network, whereby the secure communication network is based on user groups, comprising the steps of: defining an access group having access to the communication service based on the user groups of the secure communication network; generating a group key for all members of the access group; providing the group key to a member of the access group via the secure communication network; and accessing the protected communication service via the public communication network using the group key; wherein the step of defining an access group having access to the communication service based on the user groups of the secure communication network comprises the step of adding a user group to the access group; wherein the user groups have a hierarchical structure and the step of adding a user group to the access group comprises adding the user group and all user sub-groups, which are hierarchically below the added user group.