<p>Secure tunneled multicast transmission and reception through a network is provided. A join request may be received from a second tunnel endpoint (600), the join request indicating a multicast group to be joined. Group keys may be transmitted to the second tunnel endpoint (606), where the group keys are based at least on the multicast group. A packet received at the first tunnel endpoint may be cryptographically processed to generate an encapsulated payload (610). A header may be appended to the encapsulated payload to form an encapsulated packet (612), wherein the header includes information associated with the second tunnel endpoint. A tunnel may be established between the first tunnel endpoint and the second tunnel endpoint based on the appended header (613). The encapsulated packet may be transmitted through the tunnel to the second tunnel endpoint (614). The second tunnel endpoint may receive the encapsulated packet (508). Cryptographic processing of the encapsulated packet may reveal the packet having a second header (510, 512). The packet may then be forwarded on an interface toward at least one multicast recipient identified in the second header (516).</p>
