Secure transmission of video on an end system multicast using public key cryptography

Abstract

An approach for securing video transmission on an end system multicast session is described. Existing solutions use encryption techniques that require the use of a shared key. Although they can achieve efficient encryption/decryption and meet the demands of realtime video, a publicly available service needing only the integrity and lion-repudiation of the message is not considered. In this study, we offer such a method using public key cryptography. This method can be used in an end system multicast infrastructure where video originates from one source, but spreads with the help of receiving peers. Two different methods are described and compared: 1) Encryption of the entire packet. 2) Encryption of the unique digest value of the transmitted packet (i.e. digitally signing). The receivers then check the integrity of the received packets using the public key provided by the sender. Also, this way the non-repudiation of the transmitted video is provided.