Perfecting Single Sign-On (SSO) Authentication in an Imperfect World

Accessing information in a networked environment has been a reality for most user communities for over a decade. With the advent of hosted aggregated full text databases and the proliferation of e-journals and e-books, a user's search for information often takes her to a number of different onl...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Information standards quarterly 2009, Vol.21 (1), p.23
Main Author: Pesch, Olliver
Format: Magazinearticle
Language:English
Subjects:
Access to information
Cybersecurity
Data encryption
Full text
Full text databases
Libraries
Methods
Security management
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Summary:Accessing information in a networked environment has been a reality for most user communities for over a decade. With the advent of hosted aggregated full text databases and the proliferation of e-journals and e-books, a user's search for information often takes her to a number of different online hosts and platforms. The problems caused by having to manage multiple identities have led to the development of so-called "Single Sign-On" (SSO) authentication technologies, the best known examples being Athens and Shibboleth. The idea behind SSO authentication options like Athens and Shibboleth is that the user should be able to move seamlessly between sites without being confronted with authentication challenges. Making the SSO environment work better and smarter will certainty help increase the success of users getting to the content to which they are entitled; however, it is probably fair to say that the majority of content hosts do not yet support these SSO authentication technologies.
ISSN:1041-0031
2161-6205
DOI:10.3789/isqv21n1.200909