How SSO Software Can Improve Your Company's Security

Introduction

A single sign-on solution can be a powerful tool for your organization. It provides multiple benefits, including improved security, increased productivity and a better user experience.

Customers, partners, and staff can all log in to a single system using legitimate credentials from anywhere on the network, thanks to SSO. A request is made to an authentication server each time a user wants to visit a website or application, and the server subsequently verifies and approves the user following its built-in access control regulations.

Increased Security

SSO synchronizes passwords and user information, making it more secure. It also helps companies meet regulatory compliance standards, like HIPAA and PCI.

Modern companies use many software and applications to get their work done. That means a lot of usernames and passwords for employees to remember. SSO software allows your team to securely login into all these apps with just one set of credentials.

This helps mitigate security risks and increases productivity. It's estimated that over 50 percent of help desk calls are for password resets, costing your company upwards per call. With SSO, users can quickly log in and begin their work without wasting time waiting to recall multiple passwords. That's money saved for your organization and a better employee work experience.

Reduced Password Storage

Using a single login to access a handful of applications can significantly lower the number of passwords an employee has to remember. It also reduces the chances that a hacker will gain access to multiple accounts and resources through the same login credentials.

This is crucial for businesses collaborating with partners or using third-party software and services. There is a greater possibility of a breach when the passwords for those apps differ from the company's internal apps.

SSO eliminates this issue by ensuring that passwords are stored internally in an environment the IT team controls. This also helps meet compliance regulations that mandate stricter password standards.

More Efficient Authentication

There's a reason why apps that present complicated sign-on processes enjoy less popularity than those that make the process simple and seamless. SSO can make it easier for your team to access the tools and data they need without having to hop between multiple login URLs or reset passwords, saving up to 15 seconds per session.

The SSO can also automatically provision new employees' apps based on their job, department, and required access level. This can save significant time on IT-managed access changes and the manual steps needed to reassign accounts when an employee leaves or shifts their role.

Lastly, SSO can improve identity security with risk-based authentication techniques to better protect sensitive data. This can reduce help desk workloads and costs while improving productivity and user experience in high-stake environments like hospitals, defense industries, and emergency services, where delays or misappropriation of credentials could mean the difference between life and death.

Improved User Experience

SSO enables users to log into different applications with a single set of credentials, lessening password fatigue for them. Additionally, because they don't have to send password reset requests continually, they may log in more quickly and make fewer calls to the help desk.

Combining SSO with risk-based authentication helps reduce the chance of a password hack. This is because when employees use a single sign-on system, they are more likely to create a strong, hard-to-guess passphrase and are less likely to write it down or reuse the same password on multiple sites.

This is especially important for data-sensitive companies that comply with SOX, HIPAA or PCI DSS regulations. One pair of hacked login credentials can cause all your critical data to disappear in seconds.

Increased Productivity

One of the biggest benefits of SSO is that it increases productivity for employees. When team members don't have to juggle multiple login credentials, they can focus on their work without worrying about forgetting passwords or getting locked out of an application.

This saves them time and reduces the number of help desk tickets your IT team receives regarding lost or forgotten passwords. 

Conclusion

With SSO, you'll have a central portal for accessing company applications and software, which will improve the user experience and increase adoption rates. In addition, if an employee accidentally clicks on a malicious link or site while working from home, their entire SSO profile will be instantly erased, and they won't be able to log in to any other accounts.

For all these reasons and more, looking into a robust single sign-on solution for your company is in your best interests.