Patent ID: 8040884

Claim:
A method comprising: receiving, by a Layer 2 (L2) network device, a prune message from a first network routing element coupled to a first port of the L2 network device, wherein the L2 network device is coupled to a multicast source that provides a multicast data stream, the L2 network device is downstream from the multicast source and upstream from the first network routing element on a path of the multicast data stream, and the first network routing element is a first-hop network routing element from the multicast source; determining, by the L2 network device, if the first network routing element has transmitted a message comprising security-related information, wherein the message comprising the security-related information is used to inform the L2 network device that the first network routing element is capable of supporting a pruning feature; verifying, by the L2 network device, if the first network routing element is an authorized source of the prune message using the security-related information; and excluding, by the L2 network device, the first network routing element as a destination for the multicast data stream in response to receiving the prune message, if the first network routing element has transmitted the security-related information and is verified as the authorized source of the prune message.