By now, many organizations and employees are aware of the advantages of single sign-on (SSO) solutions because they only have to remember a single password rather than dozens of complex passwords.
In essence, because of the technology, IT departments receive fewer password reset calls, while the organization also can use the solutions to meet its auditing requirements.
Typically, after the number of passwords has been reduced to a single complex password, organizations often replace its remaining password, too. SSO makes this possible by replacing the remaining username and password with an access card and a PIN code. Any type of user card can be used for this; for example, an ID or library card. Users will be logged in automatically by placing their card against, or on, a card reader. The card’s unique ID is then linked to the holder’s username and password. This is referred to as self-service enrollment.
It’s a user-friendly service for employees, but many organizations do not want employees using random card types. Instead, they only want to use cards issued by the organization itself. Because of this, certain cards can be excluded from self-service enrollment, so that physical access cards are only allowed if they are used internally.
Enterprise single sign-on solutions offers the ability to only allow active cards. When a card is issued (when a new employee enters service), it is activated. By setting up a link with the key card system, it’s possible to only accept cards that are used actively within the organization. The main advantage is that the existing and mature facility management process will govern both physical and logical access. When employees leave service, their access cards will be revoked and/or disabled, after which the card is also disabled in the enterprise single sign-on. The result is effectively disabling access to the network and any applications.
Additionally, organizations might go a step further and only accept cards of employees who are physically present within the premises. Another option is to link access cards to the HR system. When the HR system indicates that an employee has left service, that user card will be disabled so that it can no longer be presented to obtain physical or logical access.
Single sign-on combined with a user cards offers a variety of options for integration with other systems, increase security and further protect organizational data.
For more information on SSO, please visit our website.
Friday, June 27, 2014
Friday, June 13, 2014
IAM for Small Businesses - Why they need to focus on identity and access management issues
While often overlooked, small businesses — like large organizations — frequently have numerous identity and access management issues. These include ensuring security of systems and applications, as well as handling copious password issues. Unlike large organizations, though, small businesses often do not have the staff and resources readily available to easily handle these tasks so they either go unaddressed or require more time and money than is necessary.
There are several solutions for small businesses, though, that easily mitigates these problems and save time and money in the long run. The following are common password management issues that small businesses have and how IAM solutions can easily solve them:
Easily Managing Passwords
Employees, no matter what the size of the organization, often have many sets of credentials they need to use when logging into their applications to perform their jobs. To remember multiple sets of credentials, they often write down their user names and passwords and store them somewhere near their desks. Doing so puts the organizations applications at risk and reduces the security.
An easy way for small business to reduce the headache of multiple passwords for their employees to manage, as well as to ensure the security of their systems, is with a single sign-on (SSO) application. With an SSO solution, employees only have to remember one set of credentials. These allow them to enter their single user name and password one time and, thereafter, are automatically signed into all applications and systems once they are opened.
It also ensures that employees will not use non-secure methods to remember their passwords.
Dealing with Sensitive Data
Like larger organizations, small businesses often deal with sensitive data and information that needs to be kept secure. They often need to ensure that this information cannot easily be accessed by just anyone in the organization.
Many small businesses have solved this issue by implementing a single sign-on solution in combination with two-factor authentication. This allows small businesses to add another layer of security to systems and applications. Two-factor authentication is used by requiring users to present a smart card, as well as a PIN code, to access certain systems. Two-factor authentication also can be customized to the needs of the organization such as having the computer remember the PIN for a defined period of time after it is entered or automatically closing all sessions on the computer after the smart card is removed. Each of these customizations adds additional security to the systems, as well as improving efficiency for the user.
Quickly Resetting Passwords
When an employee forgets his password, or is locked out of an application, he usually needs to go through the time-consuming process of resetting his passwords. In a small business, there may not be a 24×7 helpdesk to call to resolve this issue. If there is a helpdesk or IT department, focusing on password resets can take away from the department’s time of focusing on other issues.
The IAM solution that can easily help with this issue is a self-service reset password solution. This allows end users to easily and securely reset passwords themselves. Users simply register by providing answers to a few personal questions — much like a banking website — then when they need to reset their password they simply click the “forgot my password” button, provide the correct answers and are able to reset their password without having to contact anyone else at the company. This reduces the annoyance of password resets for both the IT department and the end user, and allows employees to both be productive and work on more important tasks.
Overall, small businesses have many of the same issues that larger organizations deal with but often do not have the budget to deal with them. By implementing one or all of the solutions they are able to reduce the amount of time the IT staff spends dealing with these issues, and not need to have an employee working full time to handle them, thus drastically reducing their own administrative costs.
For more information, please visit our website.
There are several solutions for small businesses, though, that easily mitigates these problems and save time and money in the long run. The following are common password management issues that small businesses have and how IAM solutions can easily solve them:
Easily Managing Passwords
Employees, no matter what the size of the organization, often have many sets of credentials they need to use when logging into their applications to perform their jobs. To remember multiple sets of credentials, they often write down their user names and passwords and store them somewhere near their desks. Doing so puts the organizations applications at risk and reduces the security.
An easy way for small business to reduce the headache of multiple passwords for their employees to manage, as well as to ensure the security of their systems, is with a single sign-on (SSO) application. With an SSO solution, employees only have to remember one set of credentials. These allow them to enter their single user name and password one time and, thereafter, are automatically signed into all applications and systems once they are opened.
It also ensures that employees will not use non-secure methods to remember their passwords.
Dealing with Sensitive Data
Like larger organizations, small businesses often deal with sensitive data and information that needs to be kept secure. They often need to ensure that this information cannot easily be accessed by just anyone in the organization.
Many small businesses have solved this issue by implementing a single sign-on solution in combination with two-factor authentication. This allows small businesses to add another layer of security to systems and applications. Two-factor authentication is used by requiring users to present a smart card, as well as a PIN code, to access certain systems. Two-factor authentication also can be customized to the needs of the organization such as having the computer remember the PIN for a defined period of time after it is entered or automatically closing all sessions on the computer after the smart card is removed. Each of these customizations adds additional security to the systems, as well as improving efficiency for the user.
Quickly Resetting Passwords
When an employee forgets his password, or is locked out of an application, he usually needs to go through the time-consuming process of resetting his passwords. In a small business, there may not be a 24×7 helpdesk to call to resolve this issue. If there is a helpdesk or IT department, focusing on password resets can take away from the department’s time of focusing on other issues.
The IAM solution that can easily help with this issue is a self-service reset password solution. This allows end users to easily and securely reset passwords themselves. Users simply register by providing answers to a few personal questions — much like a banking website — then when they need to reset their password they simply click the “forgot my password” button, provide the correct answers and are able to reset their password without having to contact anyone else at the company. This reduces the annoyance of password resets for both the IT department and the end user, and allows employees to both be productive and work on more important tasks.
Overall, small businesses have many of the same issues that larger organizations deal with but often do not have the budget to deal with them. By implementing one or all of the solutions they are able to reduce the amount of time the IT staff spends dealing with these issues, and not need to have an employee working full time to handle them, thus drastically reducing their own administrative costs.
For more information, please visit our website.
Friday, June 6, 2014
Security Solutions for Working Remotely
In the last six years working remotely grew a staggering 73 percent. One of four U.S. employees works remotely at least some of the time and that doesn’t include people who work remotely because they travel regularly. Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Group, blogged, “One day offices will be a thing of the past.” Until then, though, security issues with working remotely need to be ironed out.
Yet another major trend is universities and education entities creating online programs for students who live far from campus, prefer schooling from home or have less time to complete a program at traditional school times.
Though working from home, whether it’s for a company or for school, has many benefits, it causes significant issues for both the organization’s IT department and the end users.
Here are three major issues and solutions.
Issue #1: Managing accounts for remote employees
Correctly provisioning accounts for hundreds or thousands of users who are not physically working within the walls of an organization can be a major headache for IT. It also can be an issue for the end users as employees and students need their accounts quickly and correctly provisioned so that they can begin their work and have access to the systems and applications that they need.
In addition, ensuring that employees that are no longer with the company are correctly de-provisioned also needs to be done properly. A disgruntled employee that has access to the organization’s network can cause a great deal of havoc to its data.
Issue #2: Losing track of who has access to what
Amidst all of the account provisioning, granting access and revoking access to the many cloud applications, organizational IT leaders can easily lose track of exactly who has access to what. This can become not only a security issue but also a problem for licensing costs since the organizations do not know exactly how many licenses they need to buy or maintain.
In addition, this can be a problem when needing to audit systems since it is difficult for the organization to show and document who has access to what data.
Issue #3: Dealing with password issues
Like students or employees working on site, those working remotely tend to have difficulty remembering their credentials for the many different applications they need to access. Especially for employees who are on the go, contacting the IT department can be a major hassle. Needing to contact the help desk to have a password reset while working remotely is a huge annoyance, not only for the end user but also for the IT department since they get copious amounts of these types of calls.
So are these issues solved?
Leading businesses and several educational entities use identity and access management solutions for resolving these issues.
Managing accounts. An automated account management solution can allow the IT department at any organization to easily complete a form, check the boxes for which systems user accounts need to be created in and accounts are automatically provisioned. This task can even be delegated to less technical staff if needed, such as help desk employees.
When employee or student accounts need to be disabled, help desk employees can easily de-provision users without manually going into each system and application.
Additionally, the accounts also can be placed into a different category, such as “alumni,” where they have limited access to systems, but can still utilize their email account, for example.
Managing access. To keep track of exactly who has access to what, a centralized dashboard can be used to provide an overview of which users are deployed in each application. This allows the organization to know exactly who has access to what, and how many licenses they need for each application.
Managing passwords. A single sign-on solution helps with password issues. This allows users to log in once with a single set of credentials and thereafter gain access to all other applications for which they are authorized.
If a password needs to be reset, a self-service password reset software is a helpful solution for remote employees and students. This type of solution allows end users to reset their own passwords without having to contact the help desk. Users can answer security questions that they have previously provided answers to and quickly reset their passwords.
With all or some of these solutions, organizations and educational entities provide a better experience to their users that work remotely and also enable them to work more efficiently.
For more information, please visit our website.
Yet another major trend is universities and education entities creating online programs for students who live far from campus, prefer schooling from home or have less time to complete a program at traditional school times.
Though working from home, whether it’s for a company or for school, has many benefits, it causes significant issues for both the organization’s IT department and the end users.
Here are three major issues and solutions.
Issue #1: Managing accounts for remote employees
Correctly provisioning accounts for hundreds or thousands of users who are not physically working within the walls of an organization can be a major headache for IT. It also can be an issue for the end users as employees and students need their accounts quickly and correctly provisioned so that they can begin their work and have access to the systems and applications that they need.
In addition, ensuring that employees that are no longer with the company are correctly de-provisioned also needs to be done properly. A disgruntled employee that has access to the organization’s network can cause a great deal of havoc to its data.
Issue #2: Losing track of who has access to what
Amidst all of the account provisioning, granting access and revoking access to the many cloud applications, organizational IT leaders can easily lose track of exactly who has access to what. This can become not only a security issue but also a problem for licensing costs since the organizations do not know exactly how many licenses they need to buy or maintain.
In addition, this can be a problem when needing to audit systems since it is difficult for the organization to show and document who has access to what data.
Issue #3: Dealing with password issues
Like students or employees working on site, those working remotely tend to have difficulty remembering their credentials for the many different applications they need to access. Especially for employees who are on the go, contacting the IT department can be a major hassle. Needing to contact the help desk to have a password reset while working remotely is a huge annoyance, not only for the end user but also for the IT department since they get copious amounts of these types of calls.
So are these issues solved?
Leading businesses and several educational entities use identity and access management solutions for resolving these issues.
Managing accounts. An automated account management solution can allow the IT department at any organization to easily complete a form, check the boxes for which systems user accounts need to be created in and accounts are automatically provisioned. This task can even be delegated to less technical staff if needed, such as help desk employees.
When employee or student accounts need to be disabled, help desk employees can easily de-provision users without manually going into each system and application.
Additionally, the accounts also can be placed into a different category, such as “alumni,” where they have limited access to systems, but can still utilize their email account, for example.
Managing access. To keep track of exactly who has access to what, a centralized dashboard can be used to provide an overview of which users are deployed in each application. This allows the organization to know exactly who has access to what, and how many licenses they need for each application.
Managing passwords. A single sign-on solution helps with password issues. This allows users to log in once with a single set of credentials and thereafter gain access to all other applications for which they are authorized.
If a password needs to be reset, a self-service password reset software is a helpful solution for remote employees and students. This type of solution allows end users to reset their own passwords without having to contact the help desk. Users can answer security questions that they have previously provided answers to and quickly reset their passwords.
With all or some of these solutions, organizations and educational entities provide a better experience to their users that work remotely and also enable them to work more efficiently.
For more information, please visit our website.
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