A system, apparatus, method, and computer-readable medium are provided for authorizing a computing node to participate in a group of computing nodes utilizing a shared group password. According to one method described herein, an invitation to join a group is transmitted to a tentative group member node. The invitation is used to establish a connection with a group member node of the group. The tentative group member node generates a hash of a group password and transmits the hash to the group member node. When the group member node receives the hash, the group member node compares the received value to a previously stored hash of the group password. If the previously stored value is identical to the value received from the tentative group member node, then the tentative group member node is authorized as a new member of the group. Otherwise the tentative group member node is not permitted to become a member of the group.