Patent ID: 8127016

Claim:
A method, comprising: hiding at least one of network element names and addresses in communications between first and second networks, the hiding comprising providing a message generated by a network entity in the first network to be delivered to a target network entity in the second network, the message comprising first and second parts, wherein at least one of a network address and a name of said second network is hidden with respect to the first network but is identifiable by a contact point associated with the second network, wherein the second network is configured to receive and route the message via the contact point, wherein the first part of the message comprises a first name usable for routing external to the second network and wherein the second part of the message comprises a second name usable for routing only within the second network; routing the message generated by the network entity in the first network to a contact point disposed between the first and second networks in accordance with the first part of the message; and routing the message generated by the network entity in the first network from the contact point to the target network entity in the second network in accordance with the second part of the message.