Provision of secure access for telecommunications system

摘要

In order to gain access to data on a secure network (19) a user (31) is challenged (73) to provide a password or other security access codes (74). If he is successful an authorisation "cookie" is set (65) such that on subsequent attempts to access data, if the cookie is present (62) access to the database (19) is permitted without the requirement for a challenge (73, 74) The invention is particularly suited for secure access to mobile packet data systems in which no permanent connection exists between the user (31) and the secure network (19), to avoid the need for a new challenge for every access attempt.