Encryption system for mixed-trust environments

摘要

Encryption frequently needs to be used in communication networks which span different geographical regions which can be considered to be trusted to different extents. According to one embodiment, the invention uses both a strong encryption algorithm and a weak encryption algorithm. A device in the high-trusted region can encrypt using the strong algorithm and can decrypt using either the strong or weak algorithm. A device in the low-trusted region can decrypt with either the strong or the weak algorithm but can encrypt only with the weak algorithm.