Patent ID: 7146403

Claim:
A method for facilitating remote access by a mail client to a mail server via an intermediary server, said method comprising: (a) receiving a mail access request at the intermediary server, the mail access request being sent to the intermediary server from the mail client for a requestor; (b) receiving a password associated with the mail access request; (c) authenticating the requestor with the mail server based on the received password; (d1) retrieving a previously stored hashed password associated with the requestor or the mail client; (d2) determining whether a hashed version of the received password matches the retrieved hashed password; (d3) authenticating, based on the received password, the requestor with an authentication server that couples to a private network that includes the mail server; and (d4) bypassing said authenticating (d3) and deeming the received password authenticated when said determining (d2) determines that the hashed version of the received password matches the retrieved hashed password.