Method and apparatus for providing secure streaming data transmission facilities using unreliable protocols

A system for securely transmitting data using an unreliable protocol, comprising:

• a first computer comprising a communication protocol client function operable in conjunction with an application program to transmit data records securely using an unreliable protocol;
• and
• a second computer coupled to the first computer and comprising a communication protocol server function operable in conjunction with the communication protocol client function to receive data records securely using the unreliable communication protocol,
• wherein, for each data record, the communication protocol client function encrypts text for the data record using a nonce and an encryption key and incorporates the respective encrypted text and nonce in the data record;
• wherein the communication protocol server function decrypts the encrypted text in each of the data records using the respectively appended nonce and the encryption key;
• and
• wherein the second computer comprises a record detector that determines whether an indicator has been set in each data record received from the first computer and, if the indicator has not been set, bypasses decryption in the server computer.

A method of transmitting data securely over a computer network, comprising:

• establishing a communication path with a remote computer;
• encrypting data records using a nonce and a shared encryption key such that each data record incorporates the nonce, and
• text that is encrypted such that the remote computer can decrypt the encrypted text by using the incorporated nonce in combination with the shared encryption key and without reference to a previously received data record;
• and
• transmitting the encrypted data records to the remote computer using an unreliable communication protocol,
• wherein encrypting the data records includes embedding an indicator in each of the data records indicating that the data record incorporates text encrypted according to an encryption scheme that encrypts text without regard to any previously transmitted data records, such that the remote computer can determine whether the indicator is present in each received data record and, in response to determining that the indicator is not present, process each such received data record differently than if the indicator is set.

A method of transmitting data securely over a computer network, comprising:

• establishing a communication path with a remote computer;
• receiving data records
• transmitted from the remote computer using an unreliable communication protocol, and
• encrypted using a nonce and a shared encryption key such that
• each data record incorporates a nonce and
• text that is encrypted without reference to a previously encrypted data record;
• and
• decrypting the received data records by using the nonce in combination with the shared encryption key to decrypt each received data record without reference to a previously received data record,
• wherein the received encrypted data records include an indicator indicating that the data records incorporate text that has been encrypted according to an encryption scheme that encrypts records without regard to any previously transmitted data records, and
• further comprising determining whether the indicator is present in each received data record and, in response to determining that the indicator is not present in a received data record, processing such received data record differently than if the indicator is set.