Aspects of the disclosure provide a method that includes receiving a first packet through a network at a first device. The first packet includes a first message generated according to a precision time protocol and a first encapsulation that encapsulates one or more fields of the first message. Further, the method includes security-verifying the first packet based on the first message and the first encapsulation, and processing the first message according to the precision time protocol after the first packet is security-verified.