Method and system for mutating and caching content in a content centric network

A computer-implemented method, comprising:

• receiving, by an intermediate node in a computer network, a content object that indicates an encrypted payload, a signature, and a parameter for a group to which the content object belongs, wherein the content object includes a name that is a hierarchically structured variable length identifier which comprises contiguous name components ordered from a most general level to a most specific level;
• re-encrypting the encrypted payload based on the parameter to obtain a new encrypted payload and generating a new signature for a re-encrypted content object, wherein re-encrypting is not based on a private key or a public key associated with the encrypted payload;
• and
• transmitting the re-encrypted content object to a client computing device, thereby allowing the client computing device to decrypt the re-encrypted content object, verify the new signature, and avoid a correlation attack, wherein transmitting the re-encrypted content object to the client computing device further includes:
• transmitting the re-encrypted content object to a previous-hop node based on an entry in a pending interest table, wherein the entry indicates an interest name that corresponds to the content object name, a list of incoming interfaces at which the interest is received, and a list of outgoing interfaces from which the interest is forwarded;
• and
• removing from the entry a first interface from the list of incoming interfaces, wherein the first interface corresponds to the previous-hop node.

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium encoded with software comprising computer executable instructions which, when executed by a processor of an intermediate node in a computer network, cause the processor to:

• receive a content object that indicates an encrypted payload, a signature, and a parameter for a group to which the content object belongs, wherein the content object includes a name that is a hierarchically structured variable length identifier which comprises contiguous name components ordered from a most general level to a most specific level;
• re-encrypt the encrypted payload based on the parameter to obtain a new encrypted payload and generate a new signature for a re-encrypted content object, wherein re-encrypting is not based on a private key or a public key associated with the encrypted payload;
• and
• transmit the re-encrypted content object to a client computing device, thereby allowing the client computing device to decrypt the re-encrypted content object, verify the new signature, and avoid a correlation attack, wherein the instructions cause the processor to transmit the re-encrypted content object to the client computing device by:
• transmitting the re-encrypted content object to a previous-hop node based on an entry in a pending interest table, wherein the entry indicates an interest name that corresponds to the content object name, a list of incoming interfaces at which the interest is received, and a list of outgoing interfaces from which the interest is forwarded;
• and
• removing from the entry a first interface from the list of incoming interfaces, wherein the first interface corresponds to the previous-hop node.