The present invention relates to methods, apparatuses, and computer program products for providing secure access for a user or terminal to a network, wherein an intermediate authentication node is authorized to listen to and store authentication related information. When an authentication request is received, the stored authentication related information is checked and the user or terminal is authenticated if a match between authentication related information of the authentication request and the stored authentication related information is determined, and an authentication server responsible for the authentication request is notified about the authentication result.