Patent ID: 8910255

Claim:
A method implemented at least in part by a computer, the method comprising: receiving, at a security component, a message sent from a device, the security component being associated with a forward proxy that is logically between the device and a resource to which the device seeks access; authenticating, via the security component, an entity associated with the device; sending a cookie to the device, the cookie indicating that the entity has been previously authenticated by the security component, the device to present the cookie with subsequent requests for access to resources accessible via the forward proxy, the forward proxy providing connectivity of the device to the resource; establishing a time to live for the cookie, the cookie being no longer useful for authentication after the time to live has expired, wherein the cookie includes policy information associated with the entity usable to enforce a policy for the subsequent requests, the policy information comprising indication of sites the entity is allowed to access; and storing information identifying the entity.