In today’s fast-moving threat landscape, IT and security teams are under increasing pressure. Ransomware, supply-chain attacks, identity compromises and lateral movement across networks have become routine. The challenge: most teams are lean, budgets are constrained, and legacy tools (traditional SIEMs, stand-alone EDRs) can’t keep up.

That’s where a modern Extended Detection and Response (XDR) platform like Adlumin comes in — designed for the kind of breadth, speed and automation that today’s threats demand.

What is XDR, and why it matters

XDR takes a broader view than classic endpoint detection & response (EDR). Instead of focusing only on endpoints, it unifies data across endpoints, networks, cloud workloads, identities and more — correlating alerts, automating responses, and providing a centralized “security operations” view. As Adlumin puts it: “XDR collects security data from network points, operating systems logs, application logs, cloud services…” N-able+2Malware Analysis, News and Indicators+2

For IT teams, the benefits include:

• Fewer disparate tools to manage

• Greater visibility across the full IT environment

• Faster detection and containment of threats

• More efficient use of scarce security resources

What makes Adlumin’s XDR stand out

Here are some of the capabilities that differentiate the Adlumin platform:

Unified visibility and correlation
Adlumin brings together telemetry from endpoints, network devices, cloud services and identity systems — meaning you’re not blind in one area while defending in another. The benefit: you can spot cross-domain threats (e.g., an identity compromise that leads to data exfiltration via a cloud service).

Automation and response built in
Rather than only alerting your team, Adlumin’s platform supports automated playbooks and response workflows. That means an initial detection can trigger investigation steps, contain actions, and escalate appropriately — reducing time-to-response.

Managed service backbone
For many organizations, the in-house SOC is under-resourced. Adlumin offers a managed detection & response (MDR) component built on its XDR platform, enabling 24/7 coverage and expert backing. TMCnet Blog+1

Rapid deployment and scalability
Especially for mid-market or MSP-supported environments, the ability to get up and running quickly — without massive infrastructure build-out — is a key advantage. One case story highlights how a school district secured over 110,000 endpoints with Adlumin’s XDR/MDR.

Final thoughts

The cyber-threat landscape won’t get easier. Threat actors are faster, more automated and more audacious than ever. To stay ahead, IT teams need more than just point solutions — they need a unified platform, automation and expert support. With its XDR foundation, Adlumin offers just that: a modern security operations platform built for real-world scale, complexity and pace.

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1. Ransomware – Ransomware is a type of malware that encrypts the victim’s personal data until a ransom is paid. Ransomware attacks against U.S. organizations in 2024 disrupted healthcare systems, supply chains and government services and led to tens of millions of dollars in ransom payments. TechTarget.com list 10 of the biggest ransomware attacks of 2024. Businesses and organizations should ensure they have a plan of some kind to respond to ransomware attacks.

2. Business Email Compromise – In a BEC scam—also known as email account compromise (EAC)—criminals send an email message that appears to come from a known source making a legitimate request. In the worst of cases, thousands or even hundreds of thousands of dollars are sent to criminals instead. Employees should verify payment and purchase requests in person if possible or by calling the person to make sure a request is legitimate. 

3. State Sponsored Attacks – A state-sponsored attack is a well-funded, organized cyberattack or act of terrorism that is sanctioned by a government. These attacks are often used to achieve political, economic, or military objectives. Organizations have to take a proactive and holistic approach to cyber security, which should include security measures like continuous monitoring, regular vulnerability assessments, and prompt patch applications to protect their company and customer data

4. AI and Machine Learning – AI and machine learning cyber attacks, also called “adversarial attacks”, are malicious actions that exploit vulnerabilities in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) systems by manipulating input data to trick the AI into making incorrect decisions. Businesses and organizations should be sure to Implement role-based access control (RBAC) and multi-factor authentication (MFA) can help in securing AI models against unauthorized access, providing an additional layer of security by verifying user identities and restricting access based on user roles and permissions.

5. Insider Attacks – An “insider threat” cyber attack is a malicious act where someone with authorized access to an organization’s systems, like a current or former employee, contractor, or business partner, intentionally uses their privileged position to steal data, disrupt operations, or cause harm to the company, often for personal gain or revenge; essentially, a cyber attack originating from within the organization itself. To protect against insider threat attacks, businesses and organizations can implement access controls, security training, and data loss prevention solutions. They can also establish physical security, monitor user activity, and develop an incident response plan.

6. Social Engineering – Social engineering cyber attacks are a type of cybercrime that use psychological manipulation to trick people into giving away sensitive information. The goal is to gain access to systems, commit fraud, or steal personal information. A good defense against social engineering attacks is for security teams to keep software and firmware regularly updated, particularly security patches. Don’t run your phone rooted, or your network or PC in administrator mode. Even if a social engineering attack gets your non-administrative user account password, it won’t let an attacker reconfigure your system or install software on it.

7. Third Party Exposure – A third-party data breach is a security incident where a third party’s systems are compromised and sensitive data is stolen. This can happen when a malicious actor gains access to a third-party vendor’s systems or when a vendor’s systems are used to access sensitive information. To protect against third-party cyber attacks, you should implement a thorough third-party risk management process, including: evaluating vendor security practices during selection, establishing strong security contracts with clear expectations, conducting regular security audits, monitoring vendor compliance, and limiting data sharing with third parties, all while incorporating risk management into your contracts and performing due diligence before signing with any new vendor.

8. DNS Tunneling – DNS tunneling is a difficult-to-detect attack that routes DNS requests to the attacker’s server, providing attackers a covert command and control channel, and data exfiltration path. DNS is like a phonebook for the internet, helping to translate between IP addresses and domain names. Organizations can detect and prevent DNS tunneling attacks by: Implementing advanced DNS traffic analysis and monitoring tools. Using threat intelligence to identify and block known malicious domains. Configuring DNS security extensions (DNSSEC) to ensure the authenticity of DNS data.

9. Poor Cyber Hygiene – Poor cyber hygiene” refers to neglecting basic digital security practices, like using weak passwords, not updating software regularly, clicking on suspicious links in emails, or failing to use strong security measures, which can leave a person or system vulnerable to cyber attacks like malware, phishing scams, and ransomware, essentially opening the door for hackers to exploit these weaknesses; it’s considered a significant contributor to cyber breaches due to the lack of preventative measures. Network administrators can protect against poor hygiene cyber attacks by doing the opposite of what is described above.

10. Configuration Mistakes – A “configuration mistake cyber attack” refers to a cyber attack that exploits vulnerabilities created by incorrect settings or misconfigurations on a system, such as a server, network device, or application, essentially providing an easy entry point for hackers due to poorly configured security features like leaving default passwords unchanged, enabling unnecessary features, or not properly managing user permissions. Network administrators should develop a security minded checklist of items to ensure gets addressed when deploying new devices or software platforms on a network.

References

2024 ransomware report: Sophos State of ransomware. SOPHOS. (n.d.-a). https://www.sophos.com/en-us/content/state-of-ransomware

Cost of a data breach 2024. IBM. (n.d.). https://www.ibm.com/reports/data-breach

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Conditional access refers to Microsoft’s security approach that allows organizations to enforce specific access controls based on various conditions or criteria. These conditions typically include factors such as user identity, device health, location, and the sensitivity of the accessed resources. “Conditional Access is Microsoft’s Zero Trust policy engine taking signals from various sources into account when enforcing policy decisions”.

How does Conditional Access work?

Conditional access depends on signals from various sources about users to inform the system about the state and trustworthiness of the device or the user of the device before allowing access to various kinds of data or platforms.

Access to data considers many factors about the user/ device including:

• User or group membership: Policies can target specific users or groups.
• IP Location information: Trusted IP address ranges and\or countries can be used for policy decisions.
• Device; Specific platforms or device states can influence access.
• Application: Different applications can trigger distinct Conditional Access policies.
• Risk detection: Integration with Microsoft Entra ID Protection identifies and mitigates risky user behavior.
• Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps: Monitors and controls user application access in real-time.

The user or device will either have access blocked (the most restrictive decision) or have access granted (a less restrictive decision) that can require the addition of multifactor authentication).

Where is Conditional Access found?

Conditional Access is found in the Microsoft Entra admin center under Protection > Conditional Access

Summary

In conclusion, the world has become a lot smaller place thanks to the internet. Many workers are working from home and “home” could be many places, including another country in some cases. Controlling access from many different places prior to technologies like Conditional Access didn’t allow for many options. However now, administrators can implement what are essentially if-then statements that control what happens when a particular ID or device presents for authentication. Conditional access is a toolbox that helps administrators deal with new world realities.

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Every business owner and organization needs a secure and feature-rich capable way of storing data and communicating with its customers and its internal employees. In today’s economy, geography is no longer a barrier to hiring or acquiring customers. Businesses have both employees in customers all around the world. Microsoft has offered productivity software for a long time now, and there innovation of Office 365 hasn’t disappointed. Microsoft now offers Office 365 tenants. A Microsoft 365 tenant is a dedicated instance of the services of Microsoft 365 and your organization’s data stored within a specific default location, such as Europe or North America.

This location is specified when the tenant is created.

Your Microsoft 365 tenant also includes a Microsoft Entra tenant, which is a dedicated instance of Microsoft Entra ID\Microsoft Azure for user accounts, groups, and other objects.

Every Microsoft 365 tenant offers the following benefits. Email accounts, Instant messaging with Teams, document storage and organization with OneDrive and SharePoint, Project Management with Planner, To-Do listings, online web meetings via Teams and finally a booking system. The above features are just the beginning as Microsoft 365 tenants offer even more benefits when you pay for various capabilities. You also get many integration capabilities as many vendors build their software platforms to integrate with Microsoft tenants including a robust array of plug-ins. The biggest benefit of the Office 365 tenant is the Microsoft Office license which entitles every user to install 5 instances of the full desktop version of office on different devices. This is a huge benefit.

The best way to obtain a tenant is by working with a reseller like TranscendentIT. This is good approach as it does take some expertise to successfully navigate and configure a Microsoft tenant for your business needs.

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Is registration required to send text messages?

In today’s business world, it is important for organizations to ensure its employees are able to work remotely and be mobile. Businesses also seek to deploy solutions that are flexible and scalable. For these reasons many organizations procure VOIP (voice over Internet Protocol) cloud-based phone systems. These systems offer many benefits including the ability for employees to be able to run their phone extensions from either their cell phone or their laptop computer. These systems also allow for texting or SMS (short message service) messaging, however, to use the SMS feature, mobile carriers now require businesses to do what is known as TCR, or The Campaign Registration. SMS registration is the process of registering phone numbers with a wireless carrier to prevent messages from being blocked. It can also refer to a process that allows businesses to manage their SMS registration brand and campaign processes.

Benefits

Not only is TCR registration required, but it’s also good for your business. Here are the top benefits:

1. Better message deliverability

Mobile carriers have message filters to block questionable or fraudulent messages. Registering allows you to pre-verify your business and message content, significantly increasing the likelihood that your messages get delivered to intended recipients.

2. Higher throughput rate

Registered 10DLCs (Digit Long Codes) gain higher messaging throughput. This means you can send more messages per second. The exact rate varies depending on your brand and use case. However, this increased throughput benefits companies who may have a need to send mass text messages.

3. Increased security and trust

Registering increases trust and security around business texting. It helps legitimize an organization and its text messaging use case. It also ensures companies have an opt-in procedure, a key component of SMS compliance. 

Penalties

There are negative consequences for not registering with The Campaign Registry.

• Your organizations’ messages will be filtered, blocked, and not delivered to your contacts. In many cases, the phone system will display “message not allowed” messages when users attempt to send a text.
• Your organization could get banned by the carriers for texting or calling with unregistered numbers.
• Carriers can fine brands up to $10 per message sent by an unregistered 10DLC.
• Other unregistered phone number fees are levied by CSPs (communication service providers), who also must do their part in curbing fraudulent messaging.

Information needed to register campaign

This is where you share information about what you’ll be texting contacts about. You’ll need to provide:

• Texting use case. Your overarching reason for texting. Examples include customer care, marketing, delivery notifications, and two-factor authentication.
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• Message content attributes. Carriers want to know if you plan to use certain messaging attributes, such as SMS links, age-gated content, or embedded phone numbers.  
  ‍
• Example messages. You must provide message examples or templates to prove your use case is valid and accurate. You just need to give TCR a sample of the language you will use.
  ‍
• Opt-in information. This is how you’re collecting consent to text your contacts. You are required to obtain consent before texting any contact. Get SMS opt-in examples by use case here.

There can be many compelling reasons for a business to use text messaging as a part of their operations. Texting as a form of communication has many proven benefits including speed and automation. Spam via email is a part of our lives now. The TCR seeks to not make text messaging a similar experience. Therefore for all the benefits mentioned above, go ahead and get your organizations’ phone numbers properly registered to send SMS messages.

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Contributor: KeiLauna Hinton

In today’s world, technology is advancing quickly, and our environment is facing big challenges like climate change and pollution. This makes green technology and sustainability more important than ever. As we deal with these issues, green technology offers hope for a more sustainable future. This blog will explain what green technology is, why sustainability matters, and how these technologies can help our planet.

What is Green Technology?

Green technology, also called clean or environmental technology, includes products and practices that help protect the environment. The main goal is to create solutions that reduce pollution, save natural resources, and use energy more efficiently.

The Importance of Sustainability

Sustainability means meeting our current needs without harming the ability of future generations to meet theirs. It’s about finding a balance between economic growth, caring for the environment, and social well-being. Green technology helps achieve this balance by providing tools and methods to reduce environmental damage and promote long-term health for our planet.

Key Areas of Green Technology

• Renewable Energy: Renewable energy sources like solar, wind, water, and geothermal power are crucial. These sources provide clean, endless energy that produces far less pollution than fossil fuels. Innovations in solar panels, wind turbines, and energy storage are making renewable energy more affordable and available.

• Energy Efficiency: Energy efficiency means using less energy to do the same tasks. Technologies like smart grids, energy-saving appliances, and advanced building materials help save energy and lower pollution.

• Sustainable Transportation: Transportation is a big source of carbon emissions. Green technology is changing this with electric cars, hydrogen fuel cells, and better public transportation systems. These innovations reduce pollution and our reliance on fossil fuels.

• Waste Management and Recycling: Efficient waste management and recycling are essential. Technologies like waste-to-energy systems, biodegradable materials, and advanced recycling processes help reduce landfill use and recover valuable resources.

• Water Conservation: Water scarcity is a growing problem. Green technologies like efficient irrigation, desalination, and wastewater treatment help save water and ensure sustainable management of this vital resource.

The Impact of Green Technology on Sustainability

• Reducing Carbon Footprint: By using renewable energy and improving energy efficiency, green technology helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions and fight climate change.

• Conserving Natural Resources: Green technologies help use natural resources more sustainably by reducing waste and optimizing consumption, ensuring resources are available for future generations.

• Promoting Economic Growth: The green technology sector drives economic growth and job creation. Investing in these technologies protects the environment and stimulates economic development.

• Enhancing Quality of Life: Green technology improves life quality by reducing pollution, conserving resources, and creating healthier environments. Sustainable practices in city planning, agriculture, and industry benefit communities worldwide.

Challenges and the Road Ahead

Despite the promise of green technology, challenges like high initial costs, technological barriers, and lack of public awareness can slow its adoption. However, continued research, government support, and public engagement can help overcome these obstacles.

Green technology and sustainability are crucial for a viable future. By embracing green technology, we can reduce environmental damage, conserve resources, and create a more sustainable world. The journey towards a greener future is ongoing, and each innovation, policy, and action helps preserve our planet for future generations.

Green technology holds the key to a sustainable future. By investing in and supporting these innovations, we can ensure a healthier, more resilient planet for ourselves and future generations. The time to act is now, and together, we can make a lasting impact.

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Exploring the Boundaries of Virtual Reality: A Dive into Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR)

Contributor: KeiLauna Hinton

In today’s rapidly evolving technological landscape, Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) are not just buzzwords but transformative forces reshaping how we interact with the digital world. These immersive technologies have gone beyond gaming and entertainment, finding applications across various industries, from healthcare and education to architecture and marketing. Let’s delve deeper into the fascinating realms of VR and AR and explore their potential to revolutionize the way we perceive and engage with reality. 

Understanding Virtual Reality (VR): 

Virtual Reality (VR) immerses users in a simulated environment, completely disconnecting them from the physical world and transporting them to a digital realm. By using a VR headset, users can experience a fully immersive 3D environment that responds to their movements and interactions in real-time. From exploring virtual landscapes to interacting with virtual objects, VR offers unparalleled opportunities for immersive experiences. 

Applications of VR: 

1. Gaming and Entertainment: VR gaming has gained immense popularity, offering players a truly immersive gaming experience. From exploring fantastical worlds to engaging in adrenaline-pumping adventures, VR gaming transports players into the heart of the action. 

2. Training and Simulation: VR is revolutionizing training programs across industries, allowing users to simulate real-world scenarios in a safe and controlled environment. From flight simulations for pilots to surgical simulations for medical professionals, VR training enhances learning outcomes and reduces risks. 

3. Architecture and Design: Architects and designers use VR to create immersive walkthroughs of buildings and spaces, allowing clients to experience their designs in 3D before construction begins. VR enables stakeholders to visualize and interact with architectural concepts like never before. 

4. Healthcare:  In healthcare, VR is used for pain management, exposure therapy, surgical simulations, and medical training. VR experiences can help patients manage chronic pain, overcome phobias, and improve rehabilitation outcomes. 

 

Exploring Augmented Reality (AR):  

Unlike VR, Augmented Reality (AR) overlays digital content onto the physical world, blending the virtual and real environments seamlessly. AR technology enhances the user’s perception of reality by superimposing computer-generated images, videos, or information onto their view of the physical world, typically through a smartphone or AR-enabled device. 

 Applications of AR:  

1. Retail and E-Commerce: AR is revolutionizing the retail industry by offering virtual try-on experiences, allowing customers to visualize products in their real-world environment before making a purchase. AR-powered apps enable shoppers to preview furniture, clothing, and accessories in their homes. 

2. Education: AR enhances learning experiences by bringing educational content to life. Students can explore interactive 3D models, dissect virtual organisms, and engage in immersive learning activities that make complex concepts more accessible and engaging. 

3. Marketing and Advertising: AR campaigns captivate audiences by offering interactive and personalized experiences. AR-powered ads allow consumers to interact with products, try on virtual makeup, or unlock exclusive content by scanning images or objects with their smartphones. 

4. Navigation and Wayfinding: AR navigation apps overlay directional cues and points of interest onto the user’s view of the real world, simplifying navigation in unfamiliar environments. AR navigation enhances situational awareness and helps users find their way with ease. 

 

 The Future of VR and AR:  

As technology continues to advance, the boundaries between the virtual and physical worlds will continue to blur. VR and AR hold immense potential to transform industries, revolutionize experiences, and reshape the way we perceive reality. From immersive entertainment to practical applications in healthcare, education, and beyond, VR and AR are paving the way for a future where the impossible becomes possible. 

In conclusion, Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) are not just futuristic concepts but powerful tools driving innovation and creativity across various domains. As we embrace these immersive technologies, we embark on a journey into uncharted territories where the lines between reality and imagination are blurred, and endless possibilities await. 

So, are you ready to step into the immersive worlds of VR and AR and explore the limitless possibilities they offer? The future is here, and it’s more exciting than ever before. 

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For the purpose of this article, a security incident refers to the attempted or successful unauthorized access, use, disclosure, modification or destruction of information or interference with system operations in an information system. A security incidents also means the loss of data through theft or device misplacement, loss or misplacement of hardcopy documents and misrouting of mail, all of which may have the potential to put data at risk of unauthorized access, use, disclosure, modification or destruction. This definition provides the foundation of a good Incident management program. An incident management program should have the following components.

Defined roles and responsibilities – Defining the roles and responsibilities of everyone on the team that would be involved in responding to an incident is important. Incidents can come in different shapes and sizes, and may sometimes require different responses by different team members. To prepare for the different types of incidents that can occur, teams should conduct tabletop and\or real-world exercises which will allow team members to understand how they should respond to the various incidents that may occur.

Communication – Ensuring an effective plan is a key part of any incident management program. The plan should contain both internal and external contacts. Communicate early. Quickly acknowledge the issue, briefly summarize the known impact, promise further updates and, if you’re able, alleviate any concerns about security or data loss. Team members should remember the following general rules when it comes to communication. Communicate often, Communicate precisely, Stay consistent across channels, and own the problem.

Reporting & Retention – It is important for the end-users of an organization to know and understand how to report an incident to the appropriate individuals responsible for handling incidents. Without this reporting it can be very hard for IT security teams to know certain types of incidents have occurred. Depending on the type of business, there may be timeline requirements to report certain types of security incidents to a client or other governing entity. These kinds of reporting requirements usually specify reporting times once an issue is discovered. Therefore, it is important to always work on your firms ability to detect an issue. Retention of the details of a security incident should be maintained for at least 7 years or longer according to your organization’s retention policy.

Security incident handling is an important aspect of an IT program. It takes work to maintain and can be very detailed. As the world continues to move towards cyber technologies more and more, it is critical that organization’s have an incident management plan.

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Zoho Books

Zoho Books is Zoho’s accounting software. It is comparable to Quickbooks. This software provides several capabilities including invoicing, expense tracking, timesheet, receiving payments and producing financial reports. It also includes a project management capability which can be used to track hours and expenses to specific projects. Every business needs to have a way of tracking income and expenses and Zoho Books is a great tool for doing just that. The user interface for this software is easy to understand and navigate.

Zoho Desk

Zoho Desk is a helpdesk ticket management software. This software allows for the creation of helpdesk type tickets and includes a web portal that end users can login to and establish an account. Zoho Desk has robust reporting and automation features as well which can greatly enhance its functionality and overall experience.

Zoho People

Zoho People is Zoho’s human resource management software. It has a full feature set including the ability to keep up with important dates like employee birthdays, it also has the ability to enter performance ratings, do company announcements and do employee engagement.

Zoho CRM

Zoho CRM is Zoho’s customer relationship management tool. The software allows an organization to keep up with it current and potential customers. It allows for contact registration all the way through closing a deal and onboarding a customer. The software allows for the creation of tasks which can be associated with contacts or customers to perform various activities. 

Zoho Sign and Zoho Social

Zoho Sign is similar to Adobe Sign. It allows for the digital signing of documents. It has a decent feature set and can be a useful tool when digital signatures are needed. Zoho Social is Zoho’s social media posting software. It allows for the posting of content to various social media platforms simultaneously. It is a great platform to be used by marketing teams to post content.

Zoho One

Each of the above mentioned Zoho’s products can be purchased individually or you can purchase a Zoho One license and get access to all Zoho products. The Zoho One suite of products provides both large and small businesses with the critical software needed to run its operations. Zoho’s products are very reasonably priced and are able to be customized to a businesses needs.

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In short, a Single sign-on service allows a user to logon to multiple applications using one account and one set of credentials. Enabling this capability in an organization limits the need for the existence of multiple accounts to access the many different applications a user may need during a work day. It also greatly improves the IT team’s ability to control access to applications and the larger network. In particular, upon an employees’ exit from the organization the IT team can simply disable one account and remove access everywhere.

Single Sign-On technology provides the following benefits:

• Increased Productivity
• Improved Security
• Decreased IT Costs
• Improved Job Satisfaction for Employees
• Enhanced Customer Experience
• Increased Adoption Rates
• Tighter Business 2 Business Collaboration
• Regulatory Compliance

Of the above-mentioned benefits, improved security is the one I’d like to address. Verizon’s Data Breach Investigations Report 2021 found that 85% of breaches involved a human element, and 61% involved credentials. Based on the realities this report highlights, the case for securing people’s usernames and passwords with SSO is clear.

SSO requires the use of an identity provider (IDP). An identity provider (IdP) is a service that stores and manages digital identities. Companies use these services to allow their employees or users to connect with the resources, many times applications, they need. Microsoft Azure is an example of an IDP. IDP’s are able to implement many different types of SSO authentication methods including OAuth, SAML (security assertion markup language) and MFA (multi-factor authentication) to name a few. The below graphic depicts how a SAML authentication request works.

While no authentication method is infallible, the use of an IDP definitely raises an organization’s ability to more granularly control access to its resources, both internal and external to its network. It allows for higher levels of identification and sophisticated customization of connections to applications.

The implementation of single sign-on technologies is the immediate future of authentication. It does, however, require knowledge and training to implement, so IT teams will need to get up to speed on this technology. Bad actors are always finding new ways to attack networks, SSO represents a break-through technology that gives network administrators a great tool to defend with.

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