Abstract: Generic session keys are pre-generated and stored in a pool of session keys for later use in communicating within a communications environment. The session keys that are stored in the pool are pre-encrypted with the private key of the entity storing those keys. To communicate between entities, a pre-encrypted session key is extracted from the pool and then further encrypted with the destination entity's public key to ensure data integrity and data confidentiality. The encrypted key is then forwarded to the destination entity and used during communications between the two entities.