Patent ID: 8533465

Claim:
A method of processing packets sent through a selectable multi-leg path of a communication network, comprising: receiving encryption keys at first and second packet processing systems (PPSs) of the communication network, wherein the encryption keys are associated with other PPSs of the communication network; receiving key association information at the first and second PPSs to associate the encryption keys with the corresponding PPSs; at the first PPS, intercepting a packet from a packet originator, encrypting a destination address of the intercepted packet based on the encryption key of the first PPS, modifying a source address of the intercepted data packet based on a first pseudo-random value, and forwarding the intercepted packet in the first path after the encrypting and modifying at the first PPS; and at the second PPS, receiving the packet from the first PPS, selecting the encryption key of the first PPS based on the received key association information and the source address of the received packet, decrypting a next destination address of the received packet based on the selected encryption key, encrypting the decrypted next destination address based on the encryption key of the second PPS, modifying the source address of the received data packet based on a second pseudo-random value to render the source address of the received packet a one-time-use source address, and forwarding the received packet in the first path after the encrypting and modifying at the second PPS.