A method, apparatus, and computer implemented instructions for handling requests in a network data processing system. The network data processing system includes a network and clients connected to the network. A first server is present in which the first server receives a request from a client to access a resource, performs an authentication process with the client, add information to the request in which the information indicates that the request is from a trusted source to form a modified request, and sends the modified request for processing. This modified request is received by a second server. This second server determines whether the first server is a trusted server based on the information, and provides access to the resource in response to a determination that the first server is a trusted server. If the second server receives the request directly from a client, it would process the request by itself instead of basing its trust on any of the known first servers.