Patent ID: 8584218

Claim:
A computerized method that processes login credentials, the method comprising: prior to a request from a user of a login device to authenticate, obtaining, from a Kerberos server, a user service ticket for the login device, wherein the user service ticket identifies the login device as a principal and the user as a service provider, the user service ticket further comprising an encrypted portion with identification information about the user that is used to subsequently authenticate the user; pre-caching the user service ticket in a ticket cache associated with the login device; receiving an authentication request at the login device from the user subsequent to pre-caching the user service ticket, the authentication request comprising one or more login credentials of the user; in response to receiving the authentication request from the user, determining whether the Kerberos server is unavailable; and in response to determining that the Kerberos server is unavailable, authenticating the user based on the user service ticket stored in the ticket cache, said authenticating comprising decrypting the user service ticket and comparing the identification information about the user stored in the user service ticket with the one or more login credentials of the user.