Patent ID: 8352741

Claim:
A method of operating a computer system to provide secure communications, the computer system comprising a plurality of host devices interconnected by a network and organized into enclaves, the method comprising: at a first host device, receiving a control packet over the network during an exchange between the first host device and a second host device, the exchange to establish a security association between the first host device and the second host device; in the first host device, analyzing the control packet, the analyzing comprising: identifying, by the first host device, a chain of one or more markers in the control packet, each marker indicating an enclave; determining, by the first host device, a first identity of a first enclave in which the first host device is located based on the chain of one or more markers; and determining, by the first host device, a second identity of a second enclave in which the second host device is located based on the chain of one or more markers; and employing, by the first host device, the determined first and second identities during an establishment of a security association between the first host device and the second host device.