Patent ID: 9124564
Filing Date: 2015-09-01
Classification: H04L

Abstract:
1. A method comprising: at a first network device in a multi-tenant environment, receiving a message from a second network device as part of an initial exchange of information of a secure key exchange prior to authentication, the message containing information indicating one or more secure key exchange policies acceptable to the second network device and defining one or more associated security parameters, and the message further containing context-specific information identifying a context of the second network device including a first parameter corresponding to a type of context and a second parameter corresponding to a value associated with the type of context; selecting at the first network device a secure key exchange policy for communicating with the second network device based upon the context-specific information; and sending a response message from the first network device to the second network device as part of the initial exchange of information of the secure key exchange, the response message containing the selected secure key exchange policy and including an indication that the selected secure key exchange policy was selected in view of the context-specific information, and wherein the same context-specific information is sent to the second network device as part of the initial exchange of information in response to the context-specific information being understood by the first network device.