Patent ID: 8515066

Claim:
A session management apparatus that can connect to a first apparatus and a second apparatus over a network, the first apparatus and the second apparatus exchanging Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) messages via the session management apparatus to establish a connection, the session management apparatus comprising: circuitry configured to: exchange key information for encrypted communication with the first apparatus; perform mutual authentication with the first apparatus to establish a first encrypted communication channel between the session management apparatus and the first apparatus; and to store a name of the first apparatus and identification information of the first encrypted communication channel in a storage device, wherein the name of the first apparatus is obtained from a REGISTER message sent by the first apparatus, and the name of the first apparatus and the identification information are associated with each other; establish a second encrypted communication channel between the session management apparatus and the second apparatus based on mutual authentication with the second apparatus; receive an INVITE message including a name of the first apparatus via the first encrypted communication channel; determine whether the name included in the INVITE message is correct by comparing the name included in the INVITE message with the name, obtained from the REGISTER message, that is stored in the storage device and that is associated with the identification information of the first encrypted communication channel; and send the INVITE message to the second apparatus via the second encrypted communication channel.