A method comprising: receiving, by a local proxy node of a communications network, a request message from a respective local host for establishing a network connection with a remote host; determining a destination address for the network connection; determining whether the destination address is included in a handshake spoofing bypass list; and if it is determined that the destination address is included in the handshake spoofing bypass list, transmitting a corresponding un-spoofed connection request message to a remote proxy node associated with the remote host, in accordance with a respective handshaking protocol for the connection establishment; and if it is determined that the destination address is not included in the handshake spoofing bypass list, transmitting a corresponding spoofed connection request message to the remote proxy node associated with the remote host, in accordance with a respective handshake spoofing protocol for the connection establishment, characterized in that when it is determined that the destination address is not included in the handshake spoofing bypass list, the method further comprises: determining whether an error message has been received from the remote proxy node; and if it is determined that the error message has been received from the remote proxy node, adding the destination address to the handshake spoofing bypass list; and if it is determined that the error message has not been received from the remote proxy node, continuing with the connection establishment in accordance with the respective handshake spoofing protocol for the connection establishment; and when a new address entry is to be added to the handshake spoofing bypass list, where a new entry would exceed a maximum list limit, then a local Performance Enhancing Proxy endpoint removes an older entry from the list. receiving, by a local proxy node of a communications network, a request message from a respective local host for establishing a network connection with a remote host; determining a destination address for the network connection; determining whether the destination address is included in a handshake spoofing bypass list; and if it is determined that the destination address is included in the handshake spoofing bypass list, transmitting a corresponding un-spoofed connection request message to a remote proxy node associated with the remote host, in accordance with a respective handshaking protocol for the connection establishment; and if it is determined that the destination address is not included in the handshake spoofing bypass list, transmitting a corresponding spoofed connection request message to the remote proxy node associated with the remote host, in accordance with a respective handshake spoofing protocol for the connection establishment, characterized in that when it is determined that the destination address is not included in the handshake spoofing bypass list, the method further comprises: determining whether an error message has been received from the remote proxy node; and if it is determined that the error message has been received from the remote proxy node, adding the destination address to the handshake spoofing bypass list; and if it is determined that the error message has not been received from the remote proxy node, continuing with the connection establishment in accordance with the respective handshake spoofing protocol for the connection establishment; and determining whether an error message has been received from the remote proxy node; and if it is determined that the error message has been received from the remote proxy node, adding the destination address to the handshake spoofing bypass list; and if it is determined that the error message has not been received from the remote proxy node, continuing with the connection establishment in accordance with the respective handshake spoofing protocol for the connection establishment; and when a new address entry is to be added to the handshake spoofing bypass list, where a new entry would exceed a maximum list limit, then a local Performance Enhancing Proxy endpoint removes an older entry from the list.