Why use SSO?
Single Sign-On
A properly integrated and reliable SSO solution can seamlessly secure user access, at the same time reducing the hassle of multiple login credentials. At a high level, SSO brings the following benefits:
Gives organisations centralised control over who has access to their systems.
Enforces strict password policies
Greatly reduces password fatigue
Reduces reliance on unsafe password management strategies
Decreases password-related calls to IT saving money on IT expenses
Boosts productivity due to faster logins and fewer lost passwords
Lowers the threat of data breaches and cyberattack
According to a recent Gartner study, 20% to 50% of IT help desk calls are for password resets. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realise there’s an enormous amount of time wasted not only on password re-sets, but on staff being unable to access systems required to do their job. Time wasted is money down the drain.
Moving user identification, password, and authentication data offsite to a third-party SSO service means on-premises systems face fewer data breach risks.
As a result of juggling so many username/password combinations, password fatigue is an all too common side-effect of maintaining security. A recent survey on password management behaviors revealed over 50% of respondents struggled to remember passwords for both work and personal life.
While password managers are one solution, they are far from perfect. Employees still need to maintain a list of passwords within the manager, and it doesn’t adress the issue of having to change passwords on a regular basis. There’s also the very real concern of hackers potentially gaining access to the manager thereby getting passwords to all systems in one go.
SSO authentication replaces the countless passwords employees must manage, with a single username/password combination. An SSO solution replaces a password manager, eliminates password fatigue, allowing employees gain access to all of the systems with one password, from a single portal.
An SSO solution also provides self service functions so that staff can re-set their own password whilst giving an organisation’s admin team one place to view, manage, and secure all users access, (whether internal employees or external partners)
Password fatigue has become an all-too real issue in today’s online world.
Identity Store Management
An SSO solution can quickly connect to, and sync from any number of identity stores including AD, LDAP, HR systems, and other third-party identity providers.
Adaptive Security Policies
Using SSO, an IT team can protect users with consistent security policies that adapt to their behavior, with built-in security tools to automatically identify and block malicious login attempts.
Staff can use one set of login credentials to get to a single, intuitive browser-based dashboard to access everything they need to stay productive. Staff can customise their SSO dashboard to find their most-used apps quickly, they can even access the dashboard from mobile devices so they can stay productive while on the go.
With a secure SSO solution, staff are able to perform self-serve password resets. It goes without saying that this is a major time saver for organisations – recent studies show staff waste an average of 10-15 hours a year just on password resets.
Contact Cyberlorian about how you can reduce password fatigue and improve cybersecurity with SSO.
Raph Tripp has worked in a variety of roles including IT management, Operations, project management, PMO and as both systems and business analyst. Since 2000 he has worked in a range of industries including gaming, hospitality, managed services, NFP and education.
