diff --git a/lib/capybara/driver/webkit/browser.rb b/lib/capybara/driver/webkit/browser.rb
index 9d7bbd5..c010993 100644
--- a/lib/capybara/driver/webkit/browser.rb
+++ b/lib/capybara/driver/webkit/browser.rb
@@ -6,6 +6,10 @@ class Capybara::Driver::Webkit
       @connection = connection
     end
 
+    def authenticate(username, password)
+      command("Authenticate", username, password)
+    end
+
     def visit(url)
       command "Visit", url
     end
diff --git a/spec/driver_spec.rb b/spec/driver_spec.rb
index 451cca4..1dfa916 100644
--- a/spec/driver_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/driver_spec.rb
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 require 'spec_helper'
 require 'capybara/driver/webkit'
+require 'base64'
 
 describe Capybara::Driver::Webkit do
   subject { Capybara::Driver::Webkit.new(@app, :browser => $webkit_browser) }
@@ -1711,4 +1712,30 @@ describe Capybara::Driver::Webkit do
       end.to raise_error(Capybara::Driver::Webkit::WebkitInvalidResponseError)
     end
   end
+
+  describe "basic auth" do
+    before(:all) do
+      @app = lambda do |env|
+        if env["REQUEST_PATH"] == "/hello/world"
+          [200, {"Content-Type" => "text/html", "Content-Length" => "0"}, [""]]
+        else
+          if env["HTTP_AUTHORIZATION"]
+            header = env["HTTP_AUTHORIZATION"]
+            [200, {"Content-Type" => "text/html", "Content-Length" => header.length.to_s}, [header]]
+          else
+            html = "401 Unauthorized."
+            [401,
+              {"Content-Type" => "text/html", "Content-Length" => html.length.to_s, "WWW-Authenticate" => 'Basic realm="Secure Area"'},
+              [html]]
+          end
+        end
+      end
+    end
+
+    it "can authenticate a request" do
+      subject.browser.authenticate('user', 'password')
+      subject.visit("/")
+      subject.body.should include("Basic "+Base64.encode64("user:password").strip)
+    end
+  end
 end
diff --git a/src/Authenticate.cpp b/src/Authenticate.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..add3e1f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Authenticate.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+#include "Authenticate.h"
+#include "WebPage.h"
+#include "NetworkAccessManager.h"
+
+Authenticate::Authenticate(WebPageManager *manager, QStringList &arguments, QObject *parent) : Command(manager, arguments, parent) {
+}
+
+void Authenticate::start() {
+  QString username = arguments()[0];
+  QString password = arguments()[1];
+
+  NetworkAccessManager* networkAccessManager = qobject_cast<NetworkAccessManager*>(page()->networkAccessManager());
+  networkAccessManager->setUserName(username);
+  networkAccessManager->setPassword(password);
+
+  emit finished(new Response(true));
+}
+
diff --git a/src/Authenticate.h b/src/Authenticate.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b78972e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Authenticate.h
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+#include "Command.h"
+
+class WebPage;
+
+class Authenticate : public Command {
+  Q_OBJECT
+
+  public:
+    Authenticate(WebPageManager *manager, QStringList &arguments, QObject *parent = 0);
+    virtual void start();
+};
+
diff --git a/src/CommandFactory.cpp b/src/CommandFactory.cpp
index 524ecc3..3d1d921 100644
--- a/src/CommandFactory.cpp
+++ b/src/CommandFactory.cpp
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@
 #include "GetWindowHandles.h"
 #include "GetWindowHandle.h"
 #include "WebPageManager.h"
+#include "Authenticate.h"
 
 CommandFactory::CommandFactory(WebPageManager *manager, QObject *parent) : QObject(parent) {
   m_manager = manager;
diff --git a/src/NetworkAccessManager.cpp b/src/NetworkAccessManager.cpp
index c7249bc..6a0301c 100644
--- a/src/NetworkAccessManager.cpp
+++ b/src/NetworkAccessManager.cpp
@@ -1,9 +1,11 @@
 #include "NetworkAccessManager.h"
 #include "WebPage.h"
 #include <iostream>
+#include <fstream>
 
 
 NetworkAccessManager::NetworkAccessManager(QObject *parent):QNetworkAccessManager(parent) {
+  connect(this, SIGNAL(authenticationRequired(QNetworkReply*,QAuthenticator*)), SLOT(provideAuthentication(QNetworkReply*,QAuthenticator*)));
 }
 
 QNetworkReply* NetworkAccessManager::createRequest(QNetworkAccessManager::Operation operation, const QNetworkRequest &request, QIODevice * outgoingData = 0) {
@@ -27,3 +29,17 @@ void NetworkAccessManager::resetHeaders() {
   m_headers.clear();
 };
 
+void NetworkAccessManager::setUserName(const QString &userName) {
+  m_userName = userName;
+}
+
+void NetworkAccessManager::setPassword(const QString &password) {
+  m_password = password;
+}
+
+
+void NetworkAccessManager::provideAuthentication(QNetworkReply *reply, QAuthenticator *authenticator) {
+  Q_UNUSED(reply);
+  authenticator->setUser(m_userName);
+  authenticator->setPassword(m_password);
+}
diff --git a/src/NetworkAccessManager.h b/src/NetworkAccessManager.h
index c2364c6..a7fb279 100644
--- a/src/NetworkAccessManager.h
+++ b/src/NetworkAccessManager.h
@@ -10,10 +10,17 @@ class NetworkAccessManager : public QNetworkAccessManager {
     NetworkAccessManager(QObject *parent = 0);
     void addHeader(QString key, QString value);
     void resetHeaders();
+    void setUserName(const QString &userName);
+    void setPassword(const QString &password);
 
   protected:
     QNetworkReply* createRequest(QNetworkAccessManager::Operation op, const QNetworkRequest &req, QIODevice * outgoingData);
+    QString m_userName;
+    QString m_password;
 
   private:
     QHash<QString, QString> m_headers;
+
+  private slots:
+    void provideAuthentication(QNetworkReply *reply, QAuthenticator *authenticator);
 };
diff --git a/src/find_command.h b/src/find_command.h
index 9cc7ddf..3806f23 100644
--- a/src/find_command.h
+++ b/src/find_command.h
@@ -30,3 +30,4 @@ CHECK_COMMAND(SetSkipImageLoading)
 CHECK_COMMAND(WindowFocus)
 CHECK_COMMAND(GetWindowHandles)
 CHECK_COMMAND(GetWindowHandle)
+CHECK_COMMAND(Authenticate)
diff --git a/src/webkit_server.pro b/src/webkit_server.pro
index 2cb4704..608c415 100644
--- a/src/webkit_server.pro
+++ b/src/webkit_server.pro
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ TEMPLATE = app
 TARGET = webkit_server
 DESTDIR = .
 HEADERS = \
+  Authenticate.h \
   IgnoreSslErrors.h \
   ResizeWindow.h \
   CurrentUrl.h \
@@ -45,6 +46,7 @@ HEADERS = \
   GetWindowHandle.h \
 
 SOURCES = \
+  Authenticate.cpp \
   IgnoreSslErrors.cpp \
   ResizeWindow.cpp \
   CurrentUrl.cpp \