Fastest way to send data over internet between ruby programs?

Hi, what's the best way to pass data between two ruby programs over the internet? The data is small and needs to be passed frequently. Also, since this happening over the internet, it needs to be secure. I'd appreciate any help, extra points for a pointer to some guides on this topic.

From stackoverflow

• You can use sockets to communicate between two ruby programs ...

  https://www6.software.ibm.com/developerworks/education/l-rubysocks/l-rubysocks-a4.pdf

  For security use encryption