Single Sign-On or Not? — TechKnowSurge

About this interactive

Single sign-on (SSO) means one set of credentials, for one account, gives a user the resources they need. The Single Sign-On lesson gives two reasons for it: it is convenient, and with only one password to remember, users can make that one long and strong instead of juggling many. SSO needs interoperability: a central system that the user signs in to, which the other systems trust. Protocols such as LDAP, SAML, OpenID and OAuth carry that trust; the lesson's example is Active Directory, where signing in to a domain computer opens the shares and other resources the account is allowed. Linking separate services this way is called federation. Some things look like SSO and are not. The same password reused on separate accounts is still many accounts, and reuse is risky. A password manager or a browser filling in a different password at each site saves typing, but each site still has its own account. A second factor added to each separate login is MFA, not SSO. A quick test for each card: is there one account, signed in to once, that the other systems trust?

What you'll learn

Decide whether a set of sign-ins is single sign-on: one account, signed in once through a central system, reaching many resources
Tell single sign-on apart from look-alikes that leave separate accounts in place: a reused password, a password manager, saved browser logins

Aligned to

CompTIA Security+

4.6 Given a scenario, implement and maintain identity and access management.

NIST 800-53

IA-2 Identification and Authentication (Organizational Users)

Key terms

Single Sign-On: An authentication process that allows a user to access multiple applications with one set of credentials.
Credential Sprawl: The security risk that arises when users maintain multiple sets of login credentials across different systems, increasing the likelihood of weak or reused passwords.
Active Directory: Microsoft's directory service used to manage users, computers, and resources in a network.
Lightweight Directory Access Protocol: A protocol used to access and manage directory information, enabling authentication and resource access across networked systems.

Topics

Identity And Access Management Sso Interactive Streak Sort

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