How Single Sign-On (SSO) Can Take Federal Agencies to the Next Level of User Authentication

SSO brings real-time continuous context and identity-based zero trust for improved – and protected – user experiences

(Note to readers: At the recent Okta Gov Identity Summit, Hutto explained how—in a government environment with ever-proliferating devices, cloud activity and virtual work arrangements—single sign-on (SSO) delivers an optimal and secure user experience, while elevating operational efficiency. In this blog, he elaborates upon these concepts in making the case for the swift agency adoption of SSO.)

It is no secret that agencies are facing multiple challenges when it comes to meeting mandates from the White House Executive Order on Improving the Nation’s Cybersecurity. The order calls for the adoption of numerous best practices, including the implementation of a zero trust architecture (ZTA). And while the increasing presence of multi-factor authentication (MFA) represents a strong step toward ZTA, it is time to take another step further to prioritize and enhance the user experience through SSO.

SSO is an authentication technique that only requires one set of login credentials for a user to access multiple applications, thus simplifying the process and improving the user experience. It ensures a secure approach to identity management that accelerates efforts to meet the administration’s ZTA mandates.

By partnering with Okta, Netskope provides an elegant SSO solution that protects sensitive data and makes real-time ZTA a reality for federal customers. The unique Netskope-Okta solution brings everything into one platform, avoiding the complexities and vulnerabilities that can come with legacy vendors’ wide portfolios.

This solution is emerging as more critical than ever as the government pursues a digital transformation that requires the constant acquisition of new capabilities to stay relevant. Yet, every time they add a capability, they create complexities – and complexities create vulnerabilities. Users at a typical large agency access more than 2,400 apps, with cloud app adoption growing at 20 percent annually. However, less than 3% of apps are managed today.

The Netskope-Okta solution extends SSO and MFA with policy-driven, step-up authentication based upon the rich content and context of thousands of apps and cloud services. It enforces real-time continuous context and identity-based zero trust access to cloud resources, services, and apps. It provisions users and groups to monitor identity across all apps and implements high-risk, restrictive policy controls based on user activity and events. It brings everything together in one single platform, in contrast to traditionally dispersed legacy offerings.

As the executive order illustrates, it will take significant investments and bold moves by the federal government to get to where it needs to be. It’s time to pivot to a simpler yet enhanced form of security via a truly converged platform in the cloud—particularly one that delivers a positive user experience while enforcing zero trust.

For further insight into how best to address this challenge, stream Beau Hutto’s full interview with CyberScoop here. To learn more about how Netskope can help implement a zero trust and data-centric approach to security, contact us today.