New multiparty authentication services and key agreement protocols

Many modern computing environments involve dynamic peer groups. Distributed simulation, multiuser games, conferencing applications, and replicated ser vers are just a few examples. Given the openness of today's networks, commu nication among peers (group members) must be secure and, at the same time, efficient. This paper studies the problem of authenticated key agreement in dynamic peer groups with the emphasis on efficient and provably secure key authentication, key confirmation, and integrity It begins by considering t wo-party authenticated key agreement and extends the results to Group Diffi e-Hellman key agreement, In the process, some new security properties (uniq ue to groups) are encountered and discussed.