Why Use Single Sign-on Authentication?

Single Sign-on Authentication

Security is paramount on the internet, especially when it comes to keeping information private within your company. Security hacks are among the biggest headaches that companies deal with on a regular basis. In today’s world, usernames and passwords do little to confirm whether the individual on the other end is actually who they say they are. Further, with so many passwords and usernames required on multiple platforms, people get lazy and use the same simple password for multiple logins, making them more vulnerable to hackers. 

This is where single sign-on (SSO) authentication comes in. SSO allows users to use their credentials to log in once and then access multiple applications from that single login. A step further, SSO passwordless authentication comes with multiple benefits, including better protection against hackers to keep your workspace safe. With SSO, employees also spend less time resetting forgotten passwords or fixing a password security breach and more time focusing on actual work.

How Does Single Sign-on Work?

SSO allows users to share their credentials with multiple web domains during a single session and avoid signing into each web domain separately. Here’s how it works:

1. The user visits their intended domain. Immediately, users are redirected to their SSO domain.
2. The user follows multi-factor authentication to verify their identity.
3. The SSO domain checks the credentials, looking for a match. 
4. Once credentials are verified, the SSO domain sends the user back to their intended domain. 
5. When the user visits a new domain that shares access to the SSO domain, they will automatically be signed in.

Types of Single Sign-on Authentication:

The simplest way to break the types of SSO down is to divide them into two categories, internal and external single sign-on authentication.

Internal: This type of SSO refers to the system used by large businesses, mainly government, colleges, and other similar organizations. These users are looking for a system that allows them to log in to the domains and apps they need to use within their organization. Internal SSO allows users in these large organizations to do just that.

External: This type of SSO refers to paid or free user-facing web applications. Smaller businesses whose employees need access to outside applications are most likely to use external. External SSO uses a Central Authentication System (CAS) to allow users access to each outside web page or app after signing into the login portal. Depending on the company, external SSO can be custom-built but doesn’t always need to be.

Pairing SSO with Other Software 

Unfortunately, centralizing sign-on information does have a downside. While users are at less risk overall because it’s more challenging to access this well-protected information, if someone can access it, they can get to all of the tools, apps and personal information at once. Companies that use SSO are well-aware of potential problems and pair identity governance with their single sign-on system to ensure its protection. 

The most usable and secure pairing for businesses is passwordless SSO with two-factor or multi-factor identification systems. Trusona offers both products to better protect against hackers and keep your workspace safe. With Trusona, employees are more productive in the workspace, and companies experience more peace of mind when it comes to company security and productivity.

Additionally, Trusona’s passwordless integration for SSO removes the need to store and protect easily stolen credentials altogether — made even more simple a single desktop MFA sign-in experience that securely connects your workforce to their corporate apps, including Office 365 without multiple sign ins.

Advantages of Passwordless SSO With Trusona

SSO has become extremely popular because of the safety it provides and the stress it can prevent. With SSO, there are fewer usernames and passwords to keep track of, meaning employees can spend their time working rather than logging in and out of each application they use. The ease of use for each user is an advantage of SSO and helps improve efficiency in the workplace.

Passwordless SSO with Trusona can save companies from spending millions on password resets and overpowering IT departments with fixing passwords and updating security. Additionally, by simply removing the standard username and password, companies can mitigate eight of the most common strategies hackers favor. Further, Trusona helps businesses increase their login success rates, and employees whose company has adopted SSO with Trusona prefer passwordless multi-factor authentication over traditional usernames and passwords. 

Overall, implementing a single sign-on authentication system streamlines both the user experience and the work done by IT professionals. No matter whether your business would benefit from an internal or external SSO system, putting one in place can improve user experience, promote employee productivity, and lower your IT costs almost immediately. To ensure maximum security of your new SSO system, check out Trusona’s passwordless software that can be easily integrated into the system you choose.