Patent ID: 7958368
Filing Date: 2011-06-07
Classification: H04L

Abstract:
1. A method for authorizing the granting of authority to a computing node to participate in a group of computing nodes utilizing a shared group password, the method comprising: transmitting an invitation to join the group to a tentative group member node, the invitation comprising data that may be utilized by the tentative group member node to locate and establish a connection to a member node of the group who is authorized to grant group membership authority to others; transmitting a group password to the tentative group member node; establishing a connection with the tentative group member node; receiving a hash of the group password from the tentative group member node, the hash of the group password comprising a hash of a hash of the group password and session data unique to the connection with the tentative group member node; comparing the hash of the group password received from the tentative group member node to a previously stored hash of the group password; and in response to determining that the hash received from the tentative group member node matches the previously stored hash, granting authority to the tentative group member node to be a member of the group, wherein a group membership credential is utilized to validate the members of the group, and wherein granting group membership authority to the tentative group member node comprises receiving an identity certificate from the tentative group member node, utilizing the identity certificate to generate a group membership credential for the tentative group member node, and transmitting the group membership credential to the tentative group member node prior to receiving the hash of the group password from the tentative group member node, whereby the tentative group member node can utilize the group membership credential for the member node to confirm that the member node is a member of the group.