Patent ID: 8533789

Claim:
A method of authenticating a user comprising: receiving, at a portal server, an indication that a portal user wants to access a docbase; and using a processor on the portal server to log in to the docbase on behalf of the portal user, including by: determining, at the portal server, a docbase username by which the portal user is uniquely known to the docbase; and sending, from the portal server to the docbase, the docbase username and a non-user-specific credential, wherein: the docbase determines, based at least in part on the docbase username, a scope of access with which to grant the portal user access to the docbase; and the scope of access, to the docbase and determined by the docbase, matches a scope of access associated with the portal user accessing the docbase directly using his/her own user-specific credential; wherein using the processor on the portal server to log in to the docbase on behalf of the portal user further includes: accessing a collection of one or more user-specific credentials associated with the portal user to determine if the collection includes a user-specific credential associated with the docbase; and in the event the collection includes a user-specific credential associated with the docbase, sending, from the portal sever to the docbase, the docbase username and the user-specific credential from the collection, wherein sending the docbase username and the non-user-specific credential is performed in the event the collection does not include a user-specific credential associated with the docbase.