Patent ID: 7170999

Claim:
A method of securing data within a peer-to-peer file sharing environment, the method comprising: a. generating a track key; b. sending a public key associated with a receiving device to a sending device; c. encrypting the track key using the receiving device public key; d. encrypting a data file using the track key, wherein the data file is stored on the sending device and encrypting the data file is performed by the sending device; and e. sending the encrypted track key and the encrypted data file to the receiving device, wherein the receiving device stores the encrypted track key and the encrypted data file as a secure file; f. sending a public key associated with a second receiving device to the receiving device; g. decrypting the encrypted track key using a secret key associated with the receiving device, wherein decrypting the encrypted track key is performed by the receiving device; h. encrypting the track key using the second receiving device public key thereby forming a second encrypted track key, wherein encrypting the track key to form the second encrypted track key is performed by the receiving device; i. sending the second encrypted track key to the second receiving device; and j. sending the encrypted data file to the second receiving device, wherein the second receiving device associates the second encrypted track key and the encrypted data file thereby forming a second received encrypted file.