Nonprofits acquire new technology with optimism, looking forward to how these newly obtained tools will strengthen their operations and amplify their impact. Success with new technology is easily achievable for established nonprofits with big budgets and available technical skills. But for smaller organizations, which are often under-resourced and…

Active Directory Federation Services (ADFS) is a Single Sign-On (SSO) solution created by Microsoft. As a component of Windows Server operating systems, it provides users with authenticated access to applications that are not capable of using Integrated Windows Authentication (IWA) through Active Directory (AD). Developed to provide flexibility,…

Security questions are a common method of identity authentication—one you’ve probably encountered before. When creating an account or signing up for a service online, users will confidentially share the answers to secret questions with a provider.  Typically, these security questions and answers are used for self-service password recovery…

You’ve just adopted a new service! Great! But no one is using it. Why not? It appears that no one has access to the application, so no one wants to create a new account with a new set of credentials. Even worse, the team who created the system failed to port over all the users. Would you want to use such a system? This scenario may sound odd, but…

Decentralized Identity is a methodology that allows individuals to securely control their digital Identity without relying on a central authority. The need for decentralized Identity Traditional Identity models do not protect user interests and can leave personal information vulnerable. Decentralized Identity helps close the gap on a growing list…

SAML stands for Security Assertion Markup Language, an open standard that passes authorization credentials from identity providers (IdPs) to service providers (SPs). Put simply, it enables secure communication between applications and allows users to gain access with a single set of credentials. Before we can dive too deeply into what SAML is used…

A one-time password or passcode (OTP) is a string of characters or numbers that authenticates a user for a single login attempt or transaction. An algorithm generates a unique value for each one-time password by factoring in contextual information, like time-based data or previous login events. Tech support teams typically administer OTPs to…

Realms is a new product that opens up a different approach to managing people in Okta’s Universal Directory. It introduces flexibility to managing users no matter how your business is growing. Whether this occurs through natural growth, M&A, or the introduction of new business units, the ability to seamlessly manage and delegate management of…

SCIM, or System for Cross-domain Identity Management, is an open standard that allows for the automation of user provisioning. It was created in 2011 as it became clear that the technology of the future would be cloud-based. SCIM communicates user identity data between identity providers (such as companies with multiple individual users) and…

In the dynamic field of engineering, the journey to success is often filled with thrilling highs and challenging lows. Whether it’s the exhilaration of a breakthrough, the stress of balancing demanding projects, or the pressure of an urgent hotfix, engineers face numerous obstacles.  However, with the right guidance and support, many of these…