Patent attributes
A method and system for encrypting and decrypting data messages which are communicated between two devices. The method for encrypting/decrypting data messages uses hybrid symmetric/asymmetric encryption, where symmetric encryption is used for data records and asymmetric encryption is used to encode new symmetric keys. All data records and symmetric key data are sent in a single data stream. The method allows the data producer to create a new symmetric key at any desired time, and also allows the data consumer to recover symmetric keys needed for decryption, on the fly by using the cipher text data stream itself, as the data messages are consumed. Data consumption can be at a later time and independent of production, and symmetric keys need not be shared between producer and consumer in advance.