Single sign on - SSO

1. Single Sign On - SSO

2. Introduction
 Single sign-on is a method of access
control
 It is a user/session authentication process
that permits a user to enter one name and
password in order to access multiple
applications
 It authenticates the user for all the
applications they have been given rights
 It eliminates further prompts when they
switch applications during a particular
session
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3. Advantages
 Reduced operational cost
 Reduced time to access data
 Improved user experience, as not many
password to be remembered
 Developer work is reduced
 Centralized management of users, roles
 Simplified administration
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4. Disadvantages
 Difficult to retrofit: An SSO solution can be
difficult, time-consuming, and expensive to retrofit to
existing applications
 Unattended desktop: Implementing SSO reduces
some security risks, but increases others. For
example, a malicious user could gain access to a
user’s resources if the user walks away from his
machine and leaves it logged in
 Single point of attack: With single sign-on, a
single, central authentication service is used by all
applications. This is an attractive target for hackers
who may decide to carry out a denial of service
attack
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5. Types Of SSO
 Password Synchronization
 Legacy SSO (Employee/Enterprise
SSO)
 Web Access Management (WAM)
 Cross Domain (realm) SSO
 Federated SSO
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6. Password Synchronization
 A process that coordinates passwords
across multiple computers and
devices and/or applications
 Each computer, device, application
still authenticates but behind the
scene
 Products:
◦ MTech’s P-Synch
◦ SecurePass
◦ SAM Pass Synch
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7. Password Synchronization
 It is low in cost, have a low impact on
the operations environment
 In order for this to be a secure
solution, the password that is captured
must be stored in volatile memory and
be passed encrypted via secure
channels
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8. Legacy SSO(eSSO)
 Enterprise or Employee SSO
 After primary authentication, it intercepts further login
prompts and fills them for automatically
 E-SSO systems interoperate with applications that
are unable to externalize user authentication by
screen scraping
 Screen Scraping: A type of software that captures the
window information for an application’s authentication
dialog box and stores the password in a database for
when the dialog box opens in the future
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9. Two Types of eSSO
 Script based
◦ Write a script that would take the target
applications credentials and launch the
application
◦ Requires modification of desktop icons
 Application wizard based
◦ Runs a service on the client that continually
monitors the workstation for login dialog
boxes
◦ Event based, cheaper, and easier to deploy
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10. Basic Web SSO (WAM)
 Also known as Web access management
 It is browser based application
 Cookie support is required
 Authentication is achieved when user
identification information is presented
and stored in a cookie on the Web proxy
server or a targeted Web server
 The information in the cookie is retrieved
each time the end-user attempts to enter
a Web portal or new Web resource
 Single sign-on to applications deployed
on a single web server (domain)
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11. Cross Domain SSO
 Multiple realms that manage user
credentials
 A user authenticated in one realm gets
signed-on to an application using
another realm typically with in the
same enterprise
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12. Federated SSO
 Extend SSO across enterprises
 Liberty Alliance, OASIS, IBM/Microsoft
 Advantages
◦ Establishment of trusted partnerships
◦ New revenue opportunities
◦ New, efficient, and production biz models
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13. Liberty Model for federated SSO
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14. References
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single_sign-on
 Single Sign On Through Password
Synchronization - Nancy Loveland
 Web Single Sign-On Systems - Shakir
James
 White Paper – “The Realities of Single
Sign-On”
 Symbiosis Students
 Gargi Shukla
 Pankaj Sukhdeve
 Siddharth Khurana
 Ankit Sharma
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