Abstract: A method of routing messages to multiple consumers comprises determining a probability function defining message classification probabilities for each of a plurality of consumer sets, receiving a plurality of messages, classifying each message, storing each message in a queue, receiving notification of a consumer available to process a message, ascertaining the consumer set to which the available consumer belongs, accessing the probabilities for the ascertained consumer set, selecting a message classification according to the accessed probabilities, and transmitting a message, of the selected classification, to the available consumer.

Abstract: A client-server authentication method for use where a server process has access to a repository storing cipher-protected client passwords. The method includes applying the same cipher function to the client's copy of its password as was previously applied to generate the stored cipher-protected client passwords. This ensures that both the client and server have access to an equivalent cipher-protected client password—providing a shared secret for driving a mutual challenge-response authentication protocol without having to convert the password into cleartext at the server. The invention can be implemented without significant additional software infrastructure in a UNIX environment. Client passwords are typically stored in the UNIX password repository under the protection of the crypt( ) function applied to the combination of the password and a random number (a ‘salt’).

Abstract: A method and apparatus for display of access control in a graphical user interface (100) is provided including displaying resources in a tree structure (102) having a plurality of nodes (104, 114, 120. . . ). Each node represents a resource and each resource has the potential for one or more users in relation to one or more actions on the resource. Permission to perform an action on a resource by a principal can be selectively displayed (134). The principal can be an individual user or a group of users. The result of a query relating to permission to perform an action on a specified resource for a principal (182) can be displayed on the tree structure (102).