Patent ID: 8769281

Claim:
A method of authenticating a message comprising the steps of: a device receiving a message wherein the device comprises a first hop IP router; the device receiving an authentication code for the message; the device generating a first checksum of the message; the device accessing a session key, wherein the session key is negotiated prior to the accessing by: initiating a communication session using a protocol; sending a public key within a vendor specific packet of the protocol, wherein the vendor specific packet includes a field indicating that the packet includes data in a format specified by a vendor; receiving an encrypted session key within an initial request message (RRQ) of the protocol, wherein the encrypted session key is generated from the public key; and decrypting the encrypted session key to generate the session key; the device extracting a second checksum of the message from the authentication code using the session key; and the device comparing the first checksum of the message with the second checksum of the message.