Patent ID: 7216236

Claim:
A method of secure session management and authentication between a web site and a web client, said web site having secure and non-secure web pages, said method comprising the steps of: a) utilizing a non-secure communication protocol and a session cookie when said web client requests access to said non-secure web pages; b) utilizing a secure communication protocol and creating an authcode cookie when said web client requests access to said secure web pages, so that utilizations of said authcode cookie are interspersed between utilizations of said session cookie, and at least some utilizations of said session cookie take place after utilizations of said authcode cookie; c) requesting said session cookie from said web client whenever said web client requests access to said non-secure web pages and verifying said requested session cookie; d) requesting said authcode cookie from said web client whenever said web client requests access to said secure web pages and verifying said requested authcode cookie; and wherein said method also comprises alternating between said secure communication protocol and said non-secure communication protocol when said web client alternates requests for access to said secure web pages and said non-secure web pages, respectively, and also repeatedly alternating between said utilizations of said authcode and said utilizations of said session code.