US Patent 7317799 Cryptographic key distribution using key folding

Methods, computer-readable media, and apparati for securely distributing a cryptographic key (C) from a first party(s) to a second party(s). A method embodiment of the present invention comprises the steps of combining (steps 1 and 2) the cryptographic key (C) with a transport key (T) to form a key set; encrypting (step 7) the key set to form an encrypted key set; distributing (step 8) the encrypted key set across a medium (3); and decrypting (step 9) the encrypted key set to reconstitute the cryptographic key (C) and the transport key (T).