Patent ID: 8812858

Claim:
A method, comprising: receiving, by a computing device, an original message composed by a sender using the computing device, the original message directed to one or more recipients by the sender; creating, by the computing device, a plurality of fake messages for transmission with the original message, the plurality of fake messages having no intended recipients; for each of the one or more recipients of the original message, calculating, by the computing device, a message authentication code (MAC) in view of the original message and a shared secret key kept between the sender and the recipient; for each of the plurality of fake messages, creating pseudo-MACs that are unique to the fake message and comprise a format that is identical to the MAC calculated for the original message; and sending, by a network device of the computing device, to each of the one or more recipients: the original message with its associated calculated MACs and one or more of the pseudo-MACs; and the plurality of fake messages each with their associated pseudo-MACs.