The modern age of work revolves solely around efficient, well implemented and, most importantly, well managed technology – without it there would simply be no chance of succeeding, but this reliance has left IT teams in businesses all over the world with a lot to deal with. An IT team’s job has always been a stressful one (it can’t be easy dealing with IT illiterate individuals all day long) – those stresses have only been magnified with the rise in cyber threats and cyber criminality. Over recent years these threats have become a normal occurrence for the average firm so it is no surprise that they simply cannot keep up with their duties as efficiently as they once did. This is where Single Sign On (SSO) comes in – it takes some of the strain off your IT team, allowing them to concentrate on more important time-consuming tasks.

Single Sign On – What is it?

Single Sign On allows your users to log in to any related software system with a single username and password. This makes the process of logging in much easier, and the eventuality of forgotten passwords has become less common.

How does it work?

Once having already accessed a website using SSO, the user can then enter a different website that has the same relationship with the SSO solution, allowing the authentication flow to follow the same steps. The system remembers that you got the password correct on the original site and allows you to access the others.

Does it make my organisation more secure?

Businesses around the world give their team access to many applications (usually an average of around 15), and with these come the thousands of web apps available for your employees to sign up for as and when they like. The problem with this is that this is almost always done without the IT team’s knowledge. With the volume of apps on the market in the modern world reaching astonishing numbers, this has created further challenges for IT teams around the globe, especially when you consider all of their passwords and the variety of other tasks that they have to complete. We don’t envy them this task in the slightest – there must be guaranteed protection over the entire network and everything that resides on it – in particular, the sensitive data. Giving employees a way of using just one sign on (SSO) solves the IT problem of having to manage too many passwords.

Unfortunately, the features that make SSO so good are also the direct causes of its downfall. The ease of use it gives your employees (by allowing them to access apps with just one log-in) can also be passed to hackers. IT departments MUST have some sort of identity governance to make sure SSO is as secure as it can be. A lot of companies – to tackle this issue – adopt centralised identity authentication on special servers in order for them to act as ‘Gatekeepers’. So, when an employee signs in their authentication passes through the SSO server which, in turn, passes on the credentials for authorising that person to use the app.

Many that have adopted SSO choose to also implement either two-factor or multi-factor authentication to make it as secure as it can be – both will improve security levels by a considerable amount, and both require your users to prove who they are through one or more additional authentication factors – this is all done before your SSO login.

By using these forms of identification (authentication) you put your system and organisation in good stead should a cyber criminal manage to obtain your SSO login.

We’re Netplatforms.

Implementing the correct security measures for the technical landscape of your organisation has the power to revolutionise the way your organisation works. We can implement and maintain your security measures and look for better ways to defend your system. Our success can be attributed to one thing: TRUST. Ever since our very first year in business our clients have been happy to recommend us to other businesses, and we have grown steadily as a result of these recommendations. We can help you to truly get the best from your IT in the most secure way possible. Don’t hesitate – contact us now!

0207 993 9035 or hello@netplatforms.wmtemp.com.

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Book a no-obligation discovery call with a member of our team today by calling 0207 993 9035 or hello@netplatforms.wmtemp.com