Patent ID: 7669229

Claim:
A method for an intermediary device to control intranet access from an external network, comprising: receiving, by the intermediary device, a security credential from a source device; determining, by the intermediary device, whether the source device is on the external network; and if the source device is on the external network, querying, by the intermediary device, an authenticator server for an authentication limit, wherein the authentication limit specifies a maximum number of invalid attempts permitted for attempts to authenticate a security credential; checking, by the intermediary device, with the authenticator server, whether one more invalid attempt to authenticate the security credential risks exceeding the authentication limit; determining, by the intermediary device, whether to attempt to authenticate the security credential with the authenticator server based at least in part on the result of said checking; and determining, by the intermediary device, not to attempt to authenticate and returning an authentication error to the source device, if the checking indicates that the attempting risks exceeding the authentication limit.