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AssigneeNone recorded
InventorsJoel Balissat, Claude Galand, Jean-Francois Le Pennec, Jean-Marie Sommerlatt
Estimating the term…
A method and system for providing secure network connections are provided. When a device resides on a private network such that its address is not commonly available to other devices via a public network, a gateway, firewall or similar device can be used to preserve the address of the private network device in confidence while still allowing a secure, end-to-end connection between the public and private network devices. The gateway or similar device may negotiate separate secure connections, such as Security Associations, with each of the public and private network devices. In this way, encryption parameters of those two devices can be exchanged even though neither need be knowledgeable of the other's actual address. Moreover, the gateway or similar device can perform this function without itself gaining access to the content being transmitted between the public and private network devices. Additionally, the gateway or similar device can also be used to forward data between the public and private network devices once a secure tunnel has been established therebetween.
A method for implementing secure network communications between a first device and a second device, at least one of the devices communicating with a public network via a separate computer, the method comprising:
A virtual peer device for implementing a secure network connection between a first and second device, at least one of the devices being a private network device communicating with a public network via the virtual peer device, the virtual peer device comprising:
An article of manufacture, which comprises a computer readable medium having stored therein a computer program carrying out a method for implementing a secure connection between two devices, the computer program comprising:
A method of transmitting data, comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.
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No related US applications are recorded in the indexed filing history.
Backward citations are indexed for grants only.
For separating internal from external traffic, e.g. firewalls: proxies
For providing a confidential data exchange among entities communicating through data packet networks: wherein the identity of one or more…
Implementing security features at a particular protocol layer: at the network layer
For supporting key management in a packet data network: for key exchange, e.g. in peer-to-peer networks
Term end not estimated
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the formation and use of secure network connections. More specifically, the present invention relates to forming secure network connections for devices located within a private network.
2. Description of the Related Art
The present invention is described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the drawings, like reference numbers indicate identical or functionally similar elements. Additionally, the left-most digit(s) of a reference number identifies the drawing in which the reference number first appears.
FIG. 1A demonstrates a prior art networking environment.
FIG. 1B demonstrates a network environment in which one embodiment of the present invention might operate, including a gateway computer operating on the edge of a private network and communicating with another device via a public WAN.
While the present invention is described below with respect to various exemplary embodiments, the present invention is not limited to only those embodiments that are disclosed. Other embodiments can be implemented by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
In this regard, although IPsec is used herein to demonstrate an exemplary embodiment of the invention, it should be understood that the present invention can be utilized in the context of other conventional network security protocols, such as Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol (L2TP) and Point-to-point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP), as would be apparent. Similarly, other protocols/methodologies besides IKE and public key encryption exist which are useful in implementing network security protocols, and the present invention can be implemented in those environments as well.
Moreover, it should be noted that the terminology and associated definitions used herein are subject to some level of disagreement in the art, as is known. For example, some artisans will describe IKE as an instance of ISAKMP, whereas others will describe IKE as the combination of ISAKMP with certain other protocols. Such terminology and definitions are used singularly and consistently herein only for the purposes of clarity; therefore, it should be understood that such usage is designed merely to explain and not limit the present invention. Similarly, terms such as “encryption,” “encryption parameters” or any other term of art, unless otherwise specified or limited herein, are not intended to be re-defined to have a special meaning herein and should be given their broadest reasonable interpretations consistent with the conventional understanding in the art.