US 2011/0238993 A1Published application

Agile Network Protocol For Secure Communications With Assured System Availability

AssigneeVirnetX, Inc.

InventorsEdmund Colby Munger, Vincent J. Sabio, Robert Dunham Short, III, Virgil D. Gligor, Douglas Charles Schmidt

Life of this patent

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Abstract

A plurality of computer nodes communicates using seemingly random IP source and destination addresses and (optionally) a seemingly random discriminator field. Data packets matching criteria defined by a moving window of valid addresses are accepted for further processing, while those that do not meet the criteria are rejected. In addition to “hopping” of IP addresses and discriminator fields, hardware addresses such as Media Access Control addresses can be hopped. The hopped addresses are generated by random number generators having non-repeating sequence lengths that are easily determined a-priori, which can quickly jump ahead in sequence by an arbitrary number of random steps and which have the property that future random numbers are difficult to guess without knowing the random number generator's parameters. Synchronization techniques can be used to re-establish synchronization between sending and receiving nodes.

Claims3

Dependent claims

A method of routing packets on a packet network, comprising the steps of:

block-encrypting, with a session key, message data to form payloads;
dividing an encrypted block resulting from the block-encrypting into at least two data payloads such that interleaving portions of data resulting from the block-encrypting step are among the at least two data payloads;
encrypting, with a link key, each of the at least two data payloads, together with destination data identifying a final destination for the packets;
combining, with a first payload resulting from the last step of encrypting, a first hop address indicating a first intermediate destination address and transmitting a first packet resulting thereby to the first intermediate destination address;
combining, with a second payload resulting from the last step of encrypting, a second hop address indicating a second intermediate destination address and transmitting a second packet resulting thereby to the second intermediate destination address.

2 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 13/154,021Filed 6 Jun 2011
Priority: 30 Oct 1998
Published: 29 Sep 2011
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification21 codes

H04L 61/2539
Translation of Internet protocol [IP] addresses: hiding addresses; Keeping addresses anonymous
H04L 9/065
The encryption apparatus using shift registers or memories for block-wise or stream coding, e.g. DES systems or RC4; Hash functions;…
H04L 45/20
Routing or path finding of packets in data switching networks: hop count for routing purposes, e.g. TTL
H04L 45/24
Routing or path finding of packets in data switching networks: multipath

Family

Application60/106,261Us provisional application · filed 30 Oct 1998
Application60/137,704Us provisional application · filed 7 Jun 1999
Application09/429,643Division · filed 29 Oct 1999
Application11/301,022Continuation · filed 13 Dec 2005
Application11/839,937Division · filed 16 Aug 2007
Application13/154,021Division
Application11/839,937Continuation
Application11/301,022Division
US 2006/0123134 A1Published application
US 2008/0034201 A1Published application
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US 2011/0238993 A1This patent

From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.