Single sign-on – Helping you stay focused

After the summer, people everywhere are returning to work after some much-needed time off. This year's break has not been like any other for obvious reasons, but one thing that hasn't changed is the challenge of getting back on track after being away. Many have logged out of the professional world for several days or even weeks for the lucky ones. One of the first obstacles is logging back into all the systems used in our daily work.

To make matters worse, you must remember multiple credentials and security demands of complex password combinations different for each application. Time gets wasted clicking forgot-my-password-buttons or contacting the IT department for help.

Password fatigue
The term password fatigue was invented to describe the feeling experienced when required to remember an excessive number of passwords as part of our daily routine. Unfortunately, this is the case for many in the Life Sciences industry. Password fatigue is likely to occur when you have to:

• create a new password that uses a pattern of letters, digits, and special characters
• come up with unique passwords for different applications
• type the new password twice
• re-enter your password throughout the day as you move to other parts of an intranet
• blind type, both when responding to a password prompt and when setting a new password.

Single sign-on (SSO) saves the day. Imagine breezing into the office and pushing a single button to access all your work tools at once. No password fatigue and time saved to preserve all your energy for your actual tasks without compromising security.

So, what is SSO?
SSO is an authentication process that allows each user to access several systems with one set of login credentials. For example, organizations that have implemented SSO can have their users access Viedoc by simply logging in to their local intranet.
Let's look at the word authentication. It literally means: 
Proving or showing that something is true, genuine, or valid.
In the non-digital world, we typically authenticate ourselves with our passport, driver's license, ID card, or any other formal proof of who we are. The authorities assert my identity, meaning that I don't need to get an individual card for each service. Just showing your ID is enough. SSO works similarly; you only need one "ID" to get access everywhere. The principle behind it is "if the user is trusted, we can trust the user."

So, what are the benefits of using SSO?
Password fatigue can be avoided altogether.

• The IT department can access user identity information for better control of the different systems used in the organization.
• Own authentication implementations could mean security issues (storing passwords, user data, etc.) and are time-consuming.
• SSO can be used as an extra layer of security on top of your own. That is if you already have authentication and authorization in place but want to improve the security level even more.

Getting techy — How does SSO work?

1. You enter a URL for a Service Provider, for example, Viedoc. 
2. Viedoc redirects you to the Identity Provider (IDP) for authentication and includes an "envelope" containing information about the request and where and how to send the response back to Viedoc if the authentication is successful.
3. You submit your credentials to the IDP.
4. The IDP checks that the credentials are correct and authenticates you.
5. The IDP responds to Viedoc with a signed "envelope," saying that the authentication went well.
6. Viedoc processes the received envelope and checks its contents. It should at least contain your unique identification key so that the application can match it with its own records.
7. Viedoc allows you to access the system.

Find out how our SSO solution can be implemented in your organization at any time — reach out to us for more information.