Patent ID: 6330671
Filing Date: 2001-12-11
Classification: H04L

Abstract:
A method executed on one or more seed nodes and one or more keyed nodes for securely distributing a cryptographic key, initially located on the one or more seed nodes, to a requesting node wherein the one or more seed nodes, the one or more keyed nodes, and the requesting node are each coupled to one or more networks in an internetwork, and wherein the keyed nodes are those nodes which receive the cryptographic key after requesting and receiving the cryptographic key from a seed or keyed node, the method comprising the steps of:receiving at a node selected from a group consisting of the one or more seed nodes and the one or more keyed nodes a multicast transmission request for the cryptographic key from the requesting node;encrypting the cryptographic key at the node selected in the receiving step; andtransferring from the node selected in the receiving step the encrypted cryptographic key to the requesting node with a secure unicast transmission.