Technology

What is Single Sign-On (SSO) and How does SSO Work?

July 3, 2023
KalyaniB

What is SSO?

Single Sign-On (SSO) is an authentication process in which a user is provided access to multiple applications and/or websites by using only a single set of login credentials (such as username and password). This prevents the need for the user to log separately into the different applications.

The user credentials and other identifying information are stored and managed by a centralized system called Identity Provider (IdP). The Identity Provider is a trusted system that provides access to other websites and applications.

Single Sign-On (SSO) based authentication systems are commonly used in enterprise environments where employees require access to multiple applications/websites of their organizations. In this scenario, the Single Sign-On service provider uses the organization’s directory, such as Microsoft Active Directory, Azure Active Directory, or a directory provided by the Single Sign-On solution itself for authenticating users and providing access to the various applications/websites.

The authentication process using miniOrange Single Sign-On (SSO) takes place as described in the following steps:

    1. The user requests a resource from their desired application/website.
    2. The application/website redirects the user to miniOrange (Identity Provider) for authentication.
    3. The user signs in with their miniOrange credentials if no external IdP is configured. If you have an existing Identity Provider (SAML, OAuth/OpenID Connect, etc), miniOrange redirects the user to the existing Identity Provider for authentication.
    4. The IdP sends a Single Sign-On response to miniOrange.
    5. miniOrange returns a Single Sign-On response back to the client application/website and
    6. The application/website grants access to the user.

Now, the user can access all other applications/websites which are configured for SSO. If the user wants to access a resource from another application/website, the application/website checks whether the user has an active session with miniOrange.

Single Sign-On (SSO) Components:

  • Identity provider- User Identity information is stored and managed by a centralized system called Identity Provider (IdP). The Identity Provider authenticates the user and provides access to the service provider. The identity provider can directly authenticate the user by validating a username and password or by validating an assertion about the user’s identity as presented by a separate identity provider.
    The identity provider handles the management of user identities in order to free the service provider from this responsibility.
  • Service Provider- A service provider provides services to the end-user. They rely on identity providers to assert the identity of a user, and typically certain attributes about the user are managed by the identity provider. Service providers may also maintain a local account for the user along with attributes that are unique to their service.
  • Identity Broker- An identity broker acts as an intermediary that connects multiple service providers with various different identity providers. Using Identity Broker, you can perform single sign-on over any applications without the hassle about the protocol it follows. No need to understand or implement complex SSO protocols like SAML, OpenID, OAuth, CAS or any other. Instead, you can just call the HTTP endpoints and access any identities. The important reason why we should use Identity Broker is that it supports Cross Protocol i.e. configuring Service Provider following a particular protocol with an Identity Provider following some different protocol.

Key factors to know before implementing SSO

Single Sign-On solution is implemented according to the requirements of the client. The implementation will differ from user to user regarding their objectives & needs. That being the case, there are some key factors you should keep in mind before implementing SSO for your system.

  • Types of users: If they are permanent/temporary, the number of users should be kept in mind.
  • Access: Proper authorization should be given to users according to their designation and or requirements.
  • Platform: According to your needs choose whether you want On premises solution or a Cloud Based solution.
  • Features: What features are you looking for to ensure only trusted users are logging in? MFA, Adaptive Authentication, Device Trust, IP Address Whitelisting, etc. should be considered.
  • What systems do you need to integrate with?
  • Keep educating your employees about password best practices. Let them know what SSO is and how you make the best use of it.

Benefits of Single Sign-On (SSO)

How SSO can benefit users?

  • Ease of use: Users only need to remember one set username & password. Eliminating the inconvenience of managing, remembering, and resetting multiple passwords, thus improving productivity with higher conversion rates.
  • Transparency: Users know what’s being shared from one system to another. They have all the access to their sensitive information and whom to share it with.
  • Ease of access: With Single Sign-On, users don’t have to go through lengthy sign-up and authorization processes.

How SSO can benefit business?

  • Increased productivity: Employees need access to many apps throughout their workday. They have to spend some time logging in to all those apps with the added difficulty of remembering all the passwords. With Single Sign-On, users can enter just one password to access all of their apps, skip all that extra time spent logging in and use that time more productively.
  • Reduced IT cost: Enabling SSO allows users to manage individual dashboards and self-reset passwords, which eliminates the necessity of IT support, saves admin time on password resets and supports tickets to focus on more important tasks. This indirectly helps in reducing IT costs.
  • Security and compliance: Security and Compliance factors enforce organizations to prove that they have taken adequate security measures to protect sensitive data. Single Sign-On helps with regulatory compliance to meet data access and security risk protection requirements.
  • More user sign-ups: SSO provides a lower barrier to entry, so new customers can sign up easily and securely, by relying on a known brand. Trust is increased, which increases conversions.
  • Improves security capabilities: SSO authentication ensures that only authorized users get access to sensitive data. With Single Sign-On you can Implement password policies like Password length, complexity, restrictions on password reuse, session timeout and self-service password reset policy to strengthen security without holding up your users access.
  • Efficient Collaboration: Large organizations and enterprises develop their own Single Sign-On solutions so that it is easy to share data, files, and other information across multiple applications. This makes the sharing and collaboration process faster and less expensive.

In short, implementing an SSO solution can make life easier for your users as well as benefits your business.

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