According to a study conducted by Identity Defined Security Alliance, 94% of businesses have experienced a data breach and 79% of these breaches occurred in the last two years. 61% of all the data breaches involved stolen credentials. All these statistics clearly show that there is a cybersecurity gap. The real question would be how can you fill that gap?
According to experts, investing in identity and access management systems could improve the situation. Single sign-on is an internal part of your identity and access management system. Thanks to single sign-on, employees don’t have to remember dozens of different passwords for different accounts for logging in. It provides a unified method that let you log in to all your accounts without any hassle.
Don’t know how to implement single sign-on but interested in implementing it? You are at the right place. In this article, Anti-Dos will show you how to implement single sign-on in your business.
What is Single Sign-On?
Single sign-on is an authentication method that let users log in to multiple accounts and websites with a single credential.
Why Implement Single Sign-On In Your Organization?
Here are some of the reasons why you should implement single sign-on in your organization.
• Centralized control over access
• Enforces password best practices
• Save users from the hassle of remembering multiple passwords
• Improves IT and employee productivity
• Enhances user experience
How To Implement Single Sign-On?
Here is a step-by-step guide on how you can implement single sign-on in your business.
1. Set Your Objectives
The first thing you need to do is set clear goals related to your identity and access management program. This is very important for single sign-on implementation. You should embark on IAM projects that will help you achieve specific functional goals such as single sign-on. Your core focus should be on agility and convenience as well as improving the employee experience and boosting their productivity with your identity and access management initiatives. Make sure your goals are flexible enough so you can make tweaks according to the evolving scenarios.
2. Find Users and Perform Gap Analysis
Once you have set your goals, now is the time to identify users and their requirements. You need to treat every user differently as they all have different requirements. For instance, an employee might have different requirements as compared to a business partner or a customer. The same holds true for applications. That is why it is highly recommended that you take one step at a time instead of implementing SSO throughout your entire organization at once. This will not only give you more confidence but can also recover from the mistakes you have made in the previous phases.
3. Create an Architecture
After identifying different types of users and their specific requirements, now is the time to create an architecture for single sign-on. Before you do that, it is imperative to decide on where will you implement single sign-on. Would you implement it in the cloud or on-premise? You can also take a hybrid approach but no matter which option you choose, your architecture should be created based on the option you choose.
Another important consideration is to evaluate your skills and resources. Do you have the skills and resources required to manage SSO? If the answer is no, you can outsource SSO. More and more businesses are now using identity and access management as a service (IDaaS) as a preferred delivery model for SSO.
4. Identify Access Control Requirements
Once you have laid a solid foundation by creating an architecture, the next step would be to analyze the access control requirements for single sign-on. This is very important in today’s environment, where the number of data breaches and cybersecurity attacks has broken all previous records. That is why you should also invest in a DDoS protected DNS for added security.
It is highly recommended that you take an adaptive approach to user authentication. This means that you will have to be continuously on your toes in order to verify if the user is what they claim they are. Keep an eye out for suspicious behavior and consider it as a warning sign. You can also identify the user based on IP addresses and devices.
5. Refine the Architecture
Creating a single sign-on architecture is not a set it and forget exercise. It is an iterative process. This means that you should constantly refine your architecture to make your SSO even better. For instance, if you are giving your employees SSO access to all the applications they use, it can increase the costs significantly. You are better off using single sign-on applications that your employees frequently use instead of implementing applications that they rarely use.
6. Decide on Features
Let’s say, you have even created and refined the architecture so what’s the next step? At this stage, you need to decide on the features. Start off by evaluating the difference between your existing and targeted infrastructure. Let’s say, your identity and access management system is outdated, you can upgrade to the latest version.
If you are already using an SSO, make sure the SSO you are planning to implement does not conflict with the previous SSO implementation. There is no point in implementing two different SSOs in the same organization as it will not only create issues but can also increase your costs.
7. Create Vendor List
With features out of the way, your next target should be to create a list of vendors that are offering SSO solutions. Before signing up for an SSO vendor, make sure you take advantage of their free trial to see how their service works. Keep an eye out for hidden costs as they can quickly add up to the overall cost. Make sure you know exactly what your security needs are and what features you really want. This will make it easy for you to narrow down your search and shortlist vendors that are actually offering what your business needs.
Would you implement a single sign-on after reading this article? If yes, how are you planning to do it? Let us know in the comments section below.
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