Benefits and Risks of Use of Single Sign On (SSO)

Some of the largest benefits to SSO are that only a single logon is required to gain access to multiple applications or systems, it lends itself to warranting stronger passwords since only one logon is required, and the administration of the SSO is centralized and more easily controlled. Some of the disadvantages to SSO are if a password is compromised, an attacker can gain access to numerous systems, the authentication served used to authenticate the credentials provided is a weak point if the server were to fail, and adding SSO to some particular computers or systems can be difficult. One way of improving the security of an SSO system is by utilizing “least privilege” to ensure that user access is minimized to access needed to perform their specific job functions. Additionally, requiring multi-factor authentication can reduce the likelihood of unauthorized access by requiring users to utilize multiple means to authenticate themselves, increasing the likelihood they are who they claim to be.

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