Patent ID: 8458462

Claim:
A method comprising: receiving a first request for access to secure multicast content by an endpoint device; after receiving the first request and prior to providing access to the secure multicast content, determining, with a multicast access control server, whether characteristics of the endpoint device satisfy one or more health policies, wherein the one or more health policies each include information describing acceptable characteristics for a network device; sending credentials from the multicast access control server to the endpoint device when the characteristics of the endpoint device satisfy the one or more health policies, wherein the credentials comprise a certificate indicating that the endpoint device has been verified by the multicast access control server to have a configuration that conforms to one or more health policies that must be satisfied before the endpoint device is allowed to receive secure multicast content, and wherein the certificate includes a timestamp indicating a date and time that the multicast access control server verified the configuration of the endpoint device; receiving, with a secure multicast system, a second request for the secure multicast content, wherein the second request includes the certificate for the second network device; determining, with the secure multicast system and based on the timestamp, whether the certificate is valid; and sending a cryptographic key to the endpoint device when the certificate is valid for decryption of the secure multicast content.