Patent ID: 7743253

Claim:
A computer-implemented method comprising: selecting an elliptic curve defined over a finite field, the elliptic curve having a plurality of points; segmenting content into a plurality of blocks of content for distributing the content over a network to a plurality of computing devices; digitally signing, using respective homomorphic digital signatures, respective blocks of content to create a plurality of digitally signed blocks of content, the digitally signing comprising computing a respective homomorphic signature for each respective block of content, the homomorphic signatures being computed based on one or more of the plurality of points on the defined elliptic curve; distributing, using a distribution scheme, a random linear combination of packets to a destination device, the random linear combination of packets comprising the digitally signed blocks of content and public information used to digitally sign the respective blocks of content, the public information comprising certain distinct prime numbers and at least one point on the defined elliptic curve; and wherein a device receiving one or more packets of the random linear combination of packets uses the homomorphic digital signatures and the public information to verify and authenticate content associated with the one or more packets without requiring secure transmission of secret keys and hash digests used to digitally sign the one or more packets.