Securing multicast data

1 . A method of securing data of a multicast transmitted in a network, comprising:

receiving an initiation message to join a multicast, the multicast having a specific Ethernet address;

generating a set of N different IP addresses,

mapping the set of N different IP addresses to the specific Ethernet address;

assigning each of the N different IP addresses to separate tunnels; and,

splitting the data of the multicast into smaller segments of the multicast; and

assigning each of the smaller segments of the multicast to a specific one of the tunnels for transmission in the network.

2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising setting a timer, and responding to the initiation message after receiving the initiation message.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein a gateway receives the initiation message.

4 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising encrypting the initiation message using a session key.

5 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising encrypting the initiation message using a session key, and encrypting the session key using a particular community-of-interest key.

6 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising assigning each of the smaller segments of the multicast to a specific one of the tunnels for transmission in the network according to a specific sequence established by a session key.

7 . A method of securing data in a private network, the method comprising:

receiving a request from a first endpoint in the private network to join a multicast transmitted from an external host to the private network, the request encrypted with a session key, which is further encrypted by a particular community-of-interest key;

decrypting the session key according to the particular community-of-interest key; and

contacting the external, host on behalf, of the first endpoint to join the multicast.

8 . The method of claim 7 , further comprising decrypting the request using the session key, and sending an Internet Group Management Protocol query corresponding to the request.

9 . The method of claim 7 , further comprising receiving a multicast transmission from the external host at a second endpoint device in the private network, and encrypting each portion of the multicast transmission using a cryptographic data set, the cryptographic data set including encryption/decryption keys for establishing a communication session between the first and second endpoint devices; and encrypting cry set using a community-of-interest key, wherein the community-of-interest key is a shared key residing in the first and second endpoint devices, the community-of-interest key corresponding to a community-of-interest associated with at least one of: the first and second endpoint computing devices.

decrypting the request using the session key, and sending an Internet Group Management Protocol query corresponding to the request.

10 . The method further comprising:

receiving a multicast transmission from the external host at a second endpoint device in the private network,

using a community-of-interest key to encrypt a cryptographic data set including splitting the cryptographic data set into portions in accordance with the community-of-interest key;

transmitting, to the first endpoint, the portions of the cryptographic data set separately using the community-of-interest key;

using the cryptographic data set to encrypt the multicast, including splitting the multicast into portions of the multicast in accordance with the cryptographic data set; and

transmitting, to the endpoint, the portions, of the multicast separately using the cryptographic data set.

11 . A gateway device for securing data in a private network, the gateway device comprising:

means for receiving query to join a multicast address; the query including configuration data that is in an encrypted format, the configuration data for use to establish a communication session between a first computing device and the gateway device;

means for using a first key to attempt to decrypt the configuration data;

means for providing a communication session between the first computing device and the gateway device for the transmission of a data set from the first computing device to the gateway device, when the attempt to decrypt the configuration data using the first key is successful.

12 . A system for securing multicast data in a private network when the system receives the multicast data from an external host which is destined for a computing device within the private network, the system comprising:

means for using a community-of-interest key to encrypt a cryptographic data set including splitting the cryptographic data set into portions in accordance with the community-of-interest key;

means for transmitting, to the computing device, the portions of the cryptographic data set separately using the community-of-interest key;

means for using the cryptographic data set to encrypt the multicast data, including splitting the multicast data into portions of the multicast data in accordance with the cryptographic data set; and

means for transmitting, to the computing device, the portions of the multicast data separately using the cryptographic data set.

13 . In a receiving device, a method for joining a multicast group, the multicast group associated with a particular community-of-interest, comprising:

encrypting a first cryptographic data set including splitting the first cryptographic data set into portions in accordance with a community-of-interest key, the community-of-interest key associated with the particular community-of-interest;

transmitting a request message to join a multicasts group address including splitting the request message into portions of the request message in accordance with the first cryptographic data set;

receiving an encrypted synchronization message that contains a second cryptographic data set; and

using the community of interest key associated with the particular community-of-interest to decrypt the synchronization message, and obtain the second cryptographic data set; and

using the second cryptographic data set to obtain and decrypt a data flow associated with the multicast group address.

14 . The method of claim 13 , further comprising sending the encrypted synchronization message back to the receiving device after receiving transmission of the request message.

15 . The method of claim 13 , further comprising receiving the request message, and after a predetermined period, sending the encrypted synchronization message back to the receiving device.

16 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the receiving device must be a member of the particular community-of-interest to join the multicast group address.

17 . The method of claim 13 , further comprising receiving the request message, and after a predetermined period, sending the encrypted synchronization message back to the receiving device, wherein the sending of the synchronization message is performed by a gateway device.

18 . The method of claim 13 , receiving the request message, and contacting an external host on behalf of the receiving device.

19 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the receiving device is a endpoint in a private network.

20 . The method of claim 18 , wherein a gateway receives the request message and contacts the external host.