US Patent 7661129 Secure traversal of network components

A method and apparatus for authenticating a client to a content server. A ticket authority generates a ticket associated with the client. The ticket comprises a first ticket and a second ticket. The ticket authority transmits the first ticket to the client and the client uses the first ticket to establish a communication session with an content server proxy. The ticket authority then transmits a second ticket to the content server proxy and the content server proxy uses the second ticket to establish a communication session with the content server.