Patent ID: 8189789

Claim:
A method for intrusion-tolerant group management for a network having a plurality of controllers, said method comprising steps of: at a client: broadcasting a message request; validating a rekey message received from a controller of the plurality of controllers; and when the client receives in a predetermined time a predetermined number of the valid rekey messages having a same membership state, updating a shared key and a view number, otherwise rebroadcasting the message request; at each controller of the plurality of controllers: performing validation steps based on the message request from the client; when the validation steps are valid, broadcasting a valid proposal to the plurality of controllers; collecting the valid proposals broadcast from the plurality of controllers; when the predetermined number of valid proposals are collected, constructing threshold-signed proof; updating the view number; and performing the message request, generating the rekey message based on threshold-signed proofs constructed by the plurality of controllers; periodically sending a reconciliation message having the membership state; and when the reconciliation message is received, updating the membership state, wherein the membership state comprises at least the view number.