A technique for robust indication processing. In client server network environments running object oriented software, there is a need for monitoring the operating state or status of objects in the network. Prior monitoring schemes involved many specific and frequent inquiries or requests of multitudinous objects, for which the connections were constructed and destroyed on an as-needed basis, thereby taking an immense toll on the network's processing capacity. Subsequently, asynchronous monitoring has been employed as an improvement over the prior monitoring schemes, wherein an observer object monitors a subject object and is set at "hair-trigger" to fire back indications to an interested client if and when the subject object's state changes. Asynchronous monitoring limitations include an inability to detect client and/or server failure, insecure and unreliable connections through which indications are intended to be fired back, and other drawbacks. The technique disclosed herein for asynchronous monitoring solves these problems and others by employing a heartbeat polling scheme having virtually unique ID numbers to instantaneously determine if there has been client or server failure or recycling along with a secure or persistent pipe that interconnects client and server and has the ability to tunnel through firewalls when public networks such as the Internet are utilized.