A hierarchical key management approach for secure multicast

Abstract

The problem of secure multicasting in a large and highly dynamical group of users is addressed, and a novel hierarchical key management framework is proposed, based on an appropriate combination of the updatable and static logical key hierarchies. It fits to the underlying architecture of an IP-based network, and reduces the synchronization problem which is a main issue regarding the necessary key update upon membership changes. The proposed solution employs a hybrid two-layer approach with the updatable key hierarchy in the upper layer and the static one in the bottom layer. It provides scalability, flexibility, efficiency and security. Although any static and updatable logical hierarchies can be employed, certain architectural issues of the proposed framework are considered. The security and performance of the proposed approaches are discussed and compared with the previously reported schemes, and advantages of the proposed approach are pointed out.