Automatic detection of authentication methods by a gateway

A system for controlling access from a client device to a resource comprising:

• at least one processor and at least one memory;
• a rules database storing at least two different authentication processes;
• and
• a gateway separating a first network from a second network, the gateway configured to receive requests from the client device on the first network for a first resource and a second resource on the second network and to select an authentication process from the rules database for each of the first resource and the second resource based on at least a portion of each request, and
• the gateway configured to analyze each request without comparing each resource to a list of resources, wherein the at least a portion of each request indicates that each of the first resource and the second resource on the second network requires authentication.

A computer readable storage device having computer executable instructions that when executed cause at least one computing device to:

• receive requests for at least two different resources disposed on a second network from a client device disposed on a first network, each request having a corresponding resource of the at least two resources;
• analyze each request for the at least two different resources to determine if each of the requests contains an indication that the at least two different resources require authentication, wherein analyzing the requests is performed without comparing the at least two different resources requested to a list of resources;
• when the requests for the at least two different resources are determined at a gateway to contain the indications that the at least two different resources require authentication, then
• access an authentication rules database having a plurality of different authentication processes to identify an authentication process associated with each indication, and
• execute the authentication process associated with each indication for each of the requests;
• and
• when the requests for the at least two different resources are determined at the gateway not to contain the indications that the at least two different resources require authentication, then forward each of the requests to the corresponding resources following the execution of the identified authentication process.