What is single sign-on? Easily explained

Single sign-on is a procedure that should help you in the password jungle of the Internet. In the following article you can read what exactly that is, how it works and what advantages and disadvantages it brings.

What is single sign-on (SSO) good for?

• According to various Bitkom studies, more than 75% of companies in Germany use social media within and outside the company as communication channels.
• 44% of work processes and applications are now cloud-based or use cloud services.
• In addition, according to Bitkom, a variety of work processes on smartphones or tablets are supplemented.
• With each of these mechanisms, the user must log in with a name (user ID) and a corresponding password.

What's this?

• As the name suggests, this is a single sign-on system at a workstation with access to additional apps, services and / or other resources. You save several usernames and the associated passwords.
• Using the example of the company network mentioned above, this means that you log on to a computer. Enter a central password and have access to all social media, the cloud services and the mobile applications to supplement your work.
• If you switch between these applications, your registration will remain until you perform a single sign-off, i.e. log out with your central account.
• The deregistration can also be activated automatically using a time barrier. As soon as you have not done anything on your computer for a specified time, you will be automatically logged out.
• It's like buying a ticket in their name for an amusement park. This gives you free access to all attractions within the park and for the whole day. It doesn't matter how often you ride the roller coaster, treat yourself to a meal in between, and then attend a show. Everything is paid for with the ticket.
• When you leave the amusement park, you have logged out, so to speak. If you want to go back to the park, you need a new ticket. So you register again.

Variants for the single sign-on service

When you use the system, you get a single identity for everything, which is passed on to all integrated applications. You will receive a kind of digital ID for this. The system automatically shows this "VIP card" for all applications. It tells the programs that you really are and lets you in. There are different options.

• Portal solution: As the name suggests, log on to a portal. With this registration you will be authenticated once. You will then have access to all programs and applications.
• An example of this is your Google account. With the one-time confirmation, you can use the Play Store and shop. You can personalize Google Maps, use Gmail, etc.
• Ticket system: This is access to many networks, it is a combination ticket, so to speak. You redeem it once and then have access to the "circle of confidants". The system describes you as "trustworthy" and releases you to the other networks that are part of this circle.
• This principle is comparable to the London Nightlife Ticket. You pay a ticket and have 2 or 7 days free access to a total of 20 clubs and bars with special discounts.
• Local solution: At a central point (data carrier, computer, cloud) you store all your passwords and access data and encrypt them with a single user name and a "meta password".
• Examples of this are the password services from Apple (Safari) or Google (Chrome). If you want, Apple stores your data for every password-protected page that you visit on the Internet. If you call up this page again, you no longer have to enter your data. The system does it for you.

Advantages of the SSO

• The one-time authentication saves you a lot of time. You don't have to keep typing new passwords and usernames.
• Since you only have to remember a password in this case, this can be much more complicated. This also makes it more secure and you don't have to maintain a long list of passwords.
• So-called phishing attacks are made significantly more difficult because your data is stored in only one place. This is much easier and easier to identify than yours (SSL encryption, URL, etc.). If someone tries to do it from outside, the system recognizes the error.
• Changes in the network or applications are much easier because they can be made in one place.

Disadvantages of the SSO

• Only services that the single sign-on system can also manage can be used. So you are bound by the selection that SSO specifies. Take the London Nightlife Ticket as an example: the bars and clubs that you can visit are fixed.
• If your access data is stolen, the entire system is affected. The damage is much greater.
• If the SSO system is defective or does not work properly, you cannot even use part of it. It would be as if the amusement park had to close for security reasons. You can no longer drive another attraction.

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