Patent ID: 7877492

Claim:
A method for authenticating a particular user of a networked application, wherein the networked application has a client side and a server side, the method implemented by the server side of the networked application and comprising: receiving authentication information for said particular user from the client side of the networked application; storing information about a plurality of users, a plurality of groups, and a plurality of authentication agents, wherein said particular user is one of said plurality of users and the stored information indicates which of the plurality of users are members of which of the plurality of groups and which of the plurality of authentication agents are associated with which of the plurality of groups; using the authentication information received from the client side of the networked application to access the stored information to identify in which of the plurality of groups said particular user is a member and to identify which of the plurality of authentication agents is associated with the identified group; passing the authentication information to the identified authentication agent that is associated with the identified group in which said particular user is a member; receiving from the identified authentication agent results of an authentication attempt by the identified authentication agent; and authorizing the user of the networked application to access the networked application if the authentication attempt was successful.