Patent ID: 8966240
Filing Date: 2015-02-24
Classification: H04L,H04W

Abstract:
1. A method comprising: receiving, at a network device, unsecured data from a source device to be sent through a network to a destination device; generating, at the network device, packet handling information from a portion of the unsecured data received from the source device, wherein the packet handling information comprises Quality of Service (QoS) information; generating, at the network device using techniques according to the Media Access Control Security (MACSEC) standard of IEEE 802.1AE, encrypted payload data from the data received from the source device; generating a MACSEC security tag; inserting, at the network device, the encrypted payload data and the MACSEC security tag in an encrypted and authenticated portion of a packet that is to be used to transport the encrypted payload data to a destination device; appending, at the network device, the packet handling information to the encrypted payload data and the MACSEC security tag, wherein the packet handling information is in an unencrypted and unauthenticated portion of the packet so as to be used by network devices for controlled handling of the packet in the network; and sending, at the network device, the packet to the network.