Single Sign-On: How This Small Step Can Save Time and Bolster Cybersecurity

Do you often forget your online passwords? What if you only had one to remember? Enter single-sign-on technology.

Benefits of Single-Sign-On Technology: Increasing Security and Minimizing IT Staff Burden

Most of us have dozens of usernames and passwords, from email and bank accounts to game and social media apps. We are all familiar with the frustrating process of recovering lost passwords and the tedium of changing our multitude of passwords to prevent security threats — so what if we could limit the number of login credentials we had to keep track of, while also strengthening online enterprise safety?

With single-sign-on platforms, companies can allow their users to log into a plethora of useful programs using only one username and password. These sole credentials allow them access to a platform that supports several different interfaces that the user needs during the workday. This cuts down on time spent trying to remember a variety of passwords and subsequently lowers the amount of time IT and management services have to spend helping users recover and reset passwords.

Less login info equals less opportunity for mistakes, and it also equals less opportunity for cybercriminals to slip in and take valuable staff, patient, or financial data. By giving staff only one set of credentials, unwanted online visitors only have one avenue for a potential breach, compared to one for each platform — where usernames and passwords are often repeated.

Single sign-on uses a technology called SAML2.0 to bypass the password step. SAML, which stands for Security Assertion Markup Language, doesn’t need repeated confirmation of a user’s identity within an organization; instead, it assumes that if the user is requesting login from a device sanctioned by their organization and has confirmed their identity in one place, it makes sense for them to access several other applications. The technology requires one login, which is the input of simply a username, authenticates the identity, and then provides that connection to all the necessary programs without the need for the user to log in to each place.

Essentially, single sign-on replaces the password step of logging in by sending that request through your single sign-on provider.

The Single-Sign-On Login Process

1. User enters username in an online service
2. Online service requests confirmation from Identity Provider (IDP) that user is valid
3. IDP asks that service for credentials
4. The service provides credentials to IDP
5. IDP provides SAML2.0 assurance
6. User is logged into the online service

Single Sign-On and the Primex OneVue Sense™ Preferred Plan

Primex offers a single-sign-on service through the Primex OneVue Sense Preferred Plan. This service allows IT departments to manage their user access from a single identity system, like an active directory. By using the SAML2.0 technology, OneVue® helps ford user management to your IDP; this lowers the service burden of both IT and organization staff, as it eliminates the responsibility of terminating credentials for past employees.

Single sign-on within the Primex OneVue Sense Preferred Plan helps users in a variety of ways:

1. Higher Security and Compliance

   Since login domains could map to several OneVue accounts, organizations will still require an administrator to add users to OneVue and assign the correct access and privileges to each user in OneVue so the right people have access to the right info. Prompt removal of user access also ensures that information is not leaked after employees leave.

2. Automatically Removes Access to the OneVue System After Users Leave the Organization

   When an employee is removed from your IDP system, like in the case of retirement or taking another job, their access to OneVue will be promptly discontinued. This can be essential to enforcing compliance to things like noncompete agreements as well as combating the risk of ill-intentioned use of the system post-exit.

3. Users Can Apply One Password to All Included Programs

   Should an employee be a particularly infrequent OneVue user, they might be prone to forgetting that password; instead of resetting it every time they need to use the service, they can instead simply use the same password they have for other applications that they use more frequently at work.

Once signed into the OneVue platform, users will be able to:

• View all the important information they need to have a successful workday, such as environmental monitoring data from OneVue Sense sensors
• Generate, analyze, and print customized data reports as seen on the OneVue dashboard (which can be useful during auditing situations)
• Resolve alerts by adding an electronic signature and inputting the reasons for the alert
• Manage their synchronized clocks and bell schedules

Additional Benefits of the Preferred Plan

With the Primex OneVue Sense Preferred Plan, users will receive proactive support from Primex staff in areas like training and analytics through biannual check-ins to ensure the success of their investment in OneVue environmental monitoring. They will also be eligible for exclusive software upgrades as they become available, which will be communicated directly to Preferred Plan administrators. Preferred Plan users receive an on-site installation and on-site training from Primex experts, ensuring a successful implementation of OneVue Sense.

Single sign-on may seem like a small piece of technology, but it can save you and your staff a lot of time and fortify enterprise security. Every time you check your sensitive environment data, you won’t have to worry about remembering a password or having to reset it if you forget. Saving a small amount of time every time adds up — giving you more time for other more important things, like viewing data, providing care, facilitating lessons, or helping your business. Plus, single sign-on increases the ease of adding new or removing departing employees to the OneVue system through a centralized process, which lessens IT staff burden.

With single-sign-on technology, facilities can ensure their sensitive information remains protected and their employees and IT departments can spend less time on password resets and user management.