Secure communication protocol
A method, of establishing secure communication, may include: generating a first symmetric key; encrypting at least the first symmetric key according to a public key; sending a first message that includes at least the encrypted first symmetric key to a communication counterpart using a connectionless protocol; and receiving, as part of a connection-oriented-protocol first session, a second message that includes an acknowledgement encrypted via the first symmetric key. A counterpart method may include: receiving and decrypting the first message according to the corresponding private key; and encrypting and then sending the second message. Another such method may include: encrypting a chunk of information according to a first symmetric key, the first symmetric key having been used in a previous and now-stopped connection-oriented session with a communication counterpart; and sending to a communication counterpart a first message whose payload at least in part the encrypted chunk of information.
1 - 14 . (canceled)
15 . A method of securely communicating, the method comprising:
encrypting a chunk of information according to a first symmetric key, the first symmetric key having been used in a previous and now-stopped connection-oriented session with a communication counterpart; and
sending a first message to a communication counterpart, the first message having a payload at least a portion of which includes the encrypted chunk of information.
16 . The method of claim 15 , further comprising:
using a connectionless protocol to send the first message.
17 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the connectionless protocol is UDP.
18 . The method of claim 15 , further comprising:
generating a second symmetric key; and
wherein the chunk of information is the second symmetric key.
19 . The method of claim 18 , wherein the previous connection-oriented session was a first session, and the method further comprises:
receiving, as part of a second connection-oriented-protocol session, at least a second message from the counterpart, at least a part of the payload of the at-least-second message being encrypted with the second symmetric key.
20 . The method of claim 19 , wherein a protocol for the second session is TCP (transmission control protocol).
21 . The method of claim 20 , further comprising:
letting the first session stop; and
keeping the first symmetric key available for use with a future second connection-oriented protocol session.
22 . The method of claim 21 , wherein the keeping available of the first symmetric key includes not deallocating volatile memory allocated thereto.
23 . The method of claim 15 , further comprising:
receiving a second message from the counterpart, at least a part of the payload of the at-least-second message being encrypted with the first symmetric key.
24 . The method of claim 23 , wherein a protocol for the second message is a connectionless protocol.
25 . The method of claim 24 , wherein the connectionless protocol is UDP (user datagram protocol).
26 . The method of claim 23 , wherein the chunk of information is a first chunk, the second message includes at least a second symmetric key that has been encrypted according to the first symmetric key, and the method further comprises:
decrypting the second message according to the first symmetric key to obtain at least the second symmetric key;
encrypting a second chunk of information according to the second symmetric key; and
sending at least a third message to the counterpart, the third message having a payload at least a portion of which includes the second encrypted chunk of information.
27 . The method of claim 26 , wherein the second chunk of information includes at least one of acknowledgment data and data desired to be kept confidential.
28 . The method of claim 26 , wherein:
the sending of the at-least-third message is a part of a connection-oriented-protocol first session.
29 . The method of claim 28 , wherein the connection-oriented-protocol is TCP (transmission control protocol).
30 . The method of claim 29 , further comprising:
letting the first session stop; and
keeping the first symmetric key available for use with a future second connection-oriented protocol session.
31 . The method of claim 30 , wherein the keeping available of the first symmetric key includes not deallocating volatile memory allocated thereto.
32 - 35 . (canceled)
36 . A machine-readable medium comprising instructions, execution of which by a machine facilitates establishing secure communication, the machine-readable instructions including:
a first code segment to encrypt a chunk of information according to a first symmetric key, the first symmetric key having been used in a previous and now-stopped connection-oriented session with a communication counterpart; and
a second code segment to send a first message to a communication counterpart, the first message having a payload at least a portion of which includes the encrypted chunk of information.
37 . The machine-readable instructions of claim 36 , further comprising:
a third code segment to generate a second symmetric key; and
wherein the chunk of information is the second symmetric key.
38 . The machine-readable instructions of claim 37 , wherein the previous connection-oriented session was a first session, and the machine-readable instructions further comprise:
a fourth code segment to receive, as part of a second connection-oriented-protocol session, at least a second message from the counterpart, at least a part of the payload of the at-least-second message being encrypted with the second symmetric key.
39 . The machine-readable instructions of claim 38 , wherein a fifth code segment to let the first session stop; and
a sixth code segment to keep the first symmetric key available for use with a future second connection-oriented protocol session.
40 . The machine-readable instructions of claim 37 , further comprising:
a fourth code segment to receive a second message from the counterpart, at least a part of the payload of the at-least-second message being encrypted with the first symmetric key.
41 . The machine-readable instructions of claim 40 , wherein the chunk of information is a first chunk, the second message includes at least a second symmetric key that has been encrypted according to the first symmetric key, and the machine-readable instructions further comprise:
a fifth code segment to decrypt the second message according to the first symmetric key to obtain at least the second symmetric key;
a sixth code segment to encrypt a second chunk of information according to the second symmetric key; and
a seventh code segment to send at least a third message to the counterpart, the third message having a payload at least a portion of which includes the second encrypted chunk of information.
42 - 43 . (canceled)
44 . An apparatus for establishing secure communication, the apparatus comprising:
means for encrypting a chunk of information according to a first symmetric key, the first symmetric key having been used in a previous and now-stopped connection-oriented session with a communication counterpart; and
means for sending a first message to a communication counterpart, the first message having a payload at least a portion of which includes the encrypted chunk of information.
45 - 46 . (canceled)
47 . A machine configured to implement the method of claim 15.