Abstract: The connectivity and security of wireless handheld devices (HDs) can he leveraged to provide a presentation appliance (PA) (e.g. a laptop) with an ability to securely communicate with an enterprise's private network. A split-proxy server, with part of it executing on the HD and a part executing on the PA, implements a full HTTP 1.1 compliant Internet/Web Proxy to couple the PA for communication through the HD. Support for the pragmatic keep-alive header, the CONNECT method, socket connection sharing, and thread pooling, enables a fully functional browsing environment to access web-based applications that are built on standard Internet technologies without the need for re-rendering or re-writing the user interfaces to suit the HD. In addition, Intranet web-based applications are made securely accessible without the need for additional VPN and remote access technologies. The PA may be configured to prevent residual storage of sensitive data on the PA.