Table of Content
- What is SSO?
- How does SSO work?
- Different types of SSO
- How can SSO help reinforce password security?
- Why you should establish SSO in your organization
Implementing modern technologies
Single sign-on (SSO) is an authentication service that helps users get quick and secure access to all applications with a single set of credentials. In a corporate environment where employees need to access multiple applications to get the job done, it is a major source of annoyance having to input login credentials for every app each time you need access. This wastes time, hampers productivity, and requires employees to remember multiple passwords for multiple applications.
In simpler terms, SSO merges all the application login screens to one place where employees can enter their credentials once and get access to all apps that have been assigned to their particular roles, which saves both time and effort. SSO works for all types of applications be it on-premises, cloud, or hybrid.
How does SSO work?
Usually deployed as a part of an identity and access management (IAM) solution, SSO uses encrypted tokens to verify the user. This is how it works:
- The user wants to access an app or website to help with their work. They try to use SSO to get access to the app or website.
- All the apps and websites come under the authorization of the service providers. Upon receiving a request from the user, the service provider now wants to authenticate the user and redirects the SSO request to the identity provider.
- The identity provider receives the token from the service provider. The token contains some information about the user like their email address and user ID. If the user has already authenticated, it would grant access to the requested app. If not, the user is prompted to enter some verification credentials to verify themselves. This can be through a username and password, OTP sent to their phone, a QR code, etc.
- Once validated, the identity provider sends a token back to the service provider. This token reaches the service provider through the user's browser.
- This token informs the service provider that the user is authentic and provides them with access to the requested resource or app. The service provider proceeds to validate the token based on security configurations that were established during the initial configuration.
- After validation of the token, the user is given access to the app or website that they requested access to by the service provider.
Different types of SSO
By type of standards
SSO comes in several variations, and which type is being used depends on the industrial standards of the organization. It's important to know what type of SSO your organization uses and which type it's required to be using, because many industries, like financial firms for instance, run audits on industrially accepted standards.
Here are some of the commonly accepted standards when it comes to SSO:
Security Assertion Markup Language 2.0 (SAML V2.0)
SAML V2.0 is one of the most famous standards when it comes to SSO. It is widely used to provide security and authenticate users. With its resemblance to HTML, SAML is mostly used in web-based applications. The disadvantage of using a SAML V2.0 is that it does not support native mobile applications.
OAuth2
OAuth2 if the newest standard when it comes to SSO. The main advantage of OAuth2 over SAML is it's support for native mobile applications. Many of the tech giants such as Google, Meta, and Twitter rely on OAuth2 when it comes to implementing SSO. However, due to it being relatively new, it is relatively hard to find people with knowledge and expertise to implement it.
Custom-built SSO
These are built by companies for mostly internal uses. Custom-built SSO offers a high amount of flexibility and customization in exchange for the higher amount of human and monetary resources needed to maintain them. The custom standards this type of SSO is built on are usually designed by the companies to suit their own organizational structure and fulfill specific needs.
By type of focus
Organizations mainly focuses on two secondary objectives while establishing SSO:
End-user focused SSO
This is focused on providing the best user experience for the end user. This type of SSO is employed in organizations with a less complex network and very few applications.
Organization-focused SSO
Typically used by larger organizations, this approach aims to deliver a standardized experience throughout the organization and handle large networks with lots of applications.
How can SSO help reinforce password security?
Employing SSO can do wonders to help an organization reinforce its password security. Here are some of the major ways in which a SSO is beneficial to reinforcing passwords:
Users can employ a single, strong password:
Brute-force attacks are a common way hackers try to get in corporate networks. Having to remember passwords to different apps results in people using easy passwords that are prone to brute-force attacks. When using SSO, the user only has to remember a single password for all their apps. This helps them employ stronger passwords that are much more resistant to brute-force attacks.
Companies can enforce better password policies:
Since there is only a single point of entry when it comes to passwords, IT administrators can employ rules that users have to follow when it comes to creating a password. These rules can be about password length, password complexity (like making passwords alpha-numeric), usage of special characters, and case-sensitive passwords. They can also enforce rules regarding password reusability.
No duplicate passwords:
Users who have to remember different passwords for different applications are prone to a condition called password fatigue. The result of this condition is that users start to reuse the same passwords for multiple applications. This is a huge security risk as the compromise of one application database might lead to the hackers getting access to all of the users' applications. SSO addresses this concern by reducing the total number of logins required to one.
Credential management:
In many cases, credentials of users are stored externally in a very disorganized fashion by individual applications and websites. This poses a huge security risk, as they may or may not follow the proper protocols for credential storage. Using SSO, credential information can be stored internally, making it more secure and giving the IT team more control over the environment.
Why you should establish SSO in your organization
SSO can reduce the time needed by your employees to log in to their required resources. SSO also helps IT admins establish password-related rules and policies with ease. SSO can help your organization with regulatory compliance and simultaneously help you cut down on IThelp desk costs.
You should consider SSO if you want to revamp your security while elevating the user experience throughout your organization.