Adaptive Data Security System And Method

Abstract

A system and method for data communication with adaptive security in which a send host transmits a data stream to a receive host in packets which contain an authentication data block with an authentication header and a signature block. The authentication header advantageously contains various fields including a verification type, a security algorithm, a minimum security level, a target security level, and an actual security level. The receive host adaptively performs verification of the data packets using varying security levels based in part on the availability of security operations per second (SOPS) in the receive host. Where a data stream in the receive host is delayed by a security processing bottleneck, the receive host may alter the verification type, security algorithm, or the actual security level to speed up the processing of the data stream by reducing the amount of security processing performed. The receive host further allocates the SOPS among the data streams received based on a priority assigned to each data stream.