Patent ID: 8452017

Claim:
A method for secure channel initialization transaction security utilizing a low-entropy shared secret at a client network device, the method comprising: choosing a random client ephemeral private key at a client network device; utilizing the client ephemeral private key and the shared secret to create a client ephemeral public key at the client network device; forwarding the client ephemeral public key, from the client network device to a server network device, in a channel initialization request; receiving, at the client network device, a payload encrypted with a high entropy shared secret, a message authentication code ‘MAC’ based on the payload and the high entropy shared secret, and a server ephemeral public key, the encrypted payload including a client credential and a server credential, the client credential having been generated by the server network device; utilizing the server ephemeral public key and the client ephemeral private key to derive the high-entropy shared secret at the client network device; decrypting the payload and verifying the MAC with the high-entropy shared secret at the client network device; and using the client credential and the server credential to establish a secure session.