The policy of adopting different passwords for accessing computer data sometimes leads to problems that can be very serious, such as forgetting the password, which can compromise the use of this data. This multiplies the tasks of IT specialists especially those of SSO authentication specialists who work to ensure that companies can always opt for Single Sign On (SSO) type solutions to allow employees to access IT resources.
Understanding SSO Authentication
SSO makes the authentication process much easier while properly securing a company’s internal data. Apart from that, this solution provides great help to technicians and IT professionals in the verification and auditing stages. It is also a very suitable means for the efficient management of business data.
Thus, all users enter a unique identifier and password to access IT resources. SSO even makes it easier to determine the measures to be taken to ensure the security of the entire system and explains the methods of applying this security. Easy to use, this solution is compatible with several authentication technologies. In addition to this, SSO allows secure access to all web and cloud applications.
The benefits of SSO
SSO allows to centralize of authentication systems and to gather a certain flexibility that is very useful so that all employees can work in good conditions without any fear or worries of data loss. Apart from that, this authentication method provides a considerable time saving for users and all other stakeholders on the company’s IT equipment.
This time-saving comes from the fact that they all use the same password to access their workspaces. This feature minimizes the inconvenience that can be caused by one of the employees forgetting their password. The problem of forgetting a password is therefore gradually eliminated with the SSO authentication solution. In addition, SSO guarantees the security of applications.
It should be noted that the use of this authentication method allows the user to manage administrator accounts and service accounts in parallel. Apart from the advantages intended for employees, customers are also privileged and benefit from more convenient access. For companies, this solution provides good deployment speed and results in a reduction in the cost of support services. All this while being in total assurance of ensuring the security of all its data and its entire computer system.
Approach classes
To implement an SSO authentication system, service providers and IT security professionals rely on three approaches.
A centralized approach
Centralized SSO authentication is a process for securing computer tools and programs and provides users or a directory with a centralized data system.
A federative approach
SSO authentication in its federative approach allows a service to manage only certain parts of a user’s data and gives it the possibility to share information with other interacting services.
A cooperative approach
SSO authentication in its cooperative approach. Here, the user depends on a partner entity. To allow the user to access a network service, the partner entity must authenticate in advance.
