A video source device provides a basis value to a symmetric
ciphering/deciphering process to a video sink device, to which the video
source device is to provide a video content. The video source device
ciphers the video content for transmission to the video sink device,
including generation of a first cipher key through functional
transformation of the basis value. The video source device further
verifies periodically that the transmitted video content is indeed being
symmetrically deciphered by the video sink device. The video sink device
practices symmetric deciphering, including generation of a first decipher
key through functional transformation of the basis value. The video sink
device also provides verification values to the video source device to
facilitate confirmation of symmetric deciphering. In one embodiment, the
video source and sink devices further authenticate each other, including
generation of an authentication key, which is used in the generation of
the first cipher/decipher key.