Group communication can benefit from IP multicast to achieve scalable exchange of messages. However, there is a challenge of effectively controlling access to the transmitted data. IP multicast by itself does not provide any mechanisms for preventing nongroup members to have access to the group communication. Although encryption can be used to protect messages exchanged among group members, distributing the cryptographic keys becomes an issue. Researchers have proposed several different approaches to group key management. These approaches can be divided into three main classes: centralized group key management protocols, decentralized architectures and distributed key management protocols. The three classes are described here and an insight given to their features and goals. The area of group key management is then surveyed and proposed solutions are classified according to those characteristics.
Computing Surveys is a well-established journal of the ACM. There are four issues published every year, each including three to four articles, and the acceptance rate is very low. This paper summarizes and organizes recent research results in group key management, an active research theme within the important and topical area of network security. It follows research at Lancaster University for the PhD of Sandro Rafaeli, and is one of a sequence of Lancaster PhD topics under the umbrella of Quality of Service (QoS) for computer networks. This paper has been cited in more than 100 articles published worldwide. RAE_import_type : Journal article RAE_uoa_type : Computer Science and Informatics
