Patent ID: 8578449

Claim:
At a hub domain controller in a computerized environment in which a branch domain controller receives secrets from the hub domain controller in a domain controller system, a method of maintaining a history list of revealed secrets with the branch domain controller, such that information regarding which secrets have been revealed to the branch domain controller can be determined efficiently, comprising the acts of: updating a branch domain controller object with information that an initial version of a secret is revealed to a user that is accessing the domain controller system via a branch domain controller, the branch domain controller object being stored at the hub domain controller, including a backward link at the hub domain controller representing a list of domain controllers, including the branch domain controller, that have received the initial version of the secret, wherein updating the branch controller object further comprises updating the backward link, and wherein updating the backward link comprises updating the metadata associated with the branch domain controller object, wherein the metadata further comprises a unique key associated with the initial version of the secret; updating the history list stored at the hub domain controller to indicate that the initial version of the secret has been revealed to the branch domain controller, wherein the history list comprises a list of branch domain controller objects in the domain controller system, user objects associated with one or more of the branch domain controller objects, and metadata indicating when and to which of the branch domain controllers represented by branch domain controller objects the initial version of the secret is revealed, sending the initial version of the secret to the branch domain controller; and sending the history list associated with the updated branch domain controller object to the branch domain controller.