IDP Definition

What is an Identity Provider (IdP)?

Identity management is a key component of identity and access management (IAM). In order to determine if a user is authorized to access a particular resource, it’s necessary to be able to identify the user and track the access and permissions assigned to them.

An identity provider (IdP) is a centralized solution responsible for managing users’ identities and handling authentication and authorization for applications that rely upon the IdP. It provides various benefits such as enhanced security and an improved user experience.

What Does an IdP Do?

An IdP is responsible for managing IAM with an organization. Some of the key functions of an IdP include:

• Authentication: Authentication is the process of verifying a user’s identity before granting them access to resources. This can be accomplished via various authentication factors such as biometrics, passwords, or digital certificates.
• Authorization: Authentication involves determining if an authenticated user should be granted access to a resource. This is based on the access and permissions assigned to the user and required by the resource.
• Federation: Federation allows user identities to be shared across organizational boundaries. If a user tries to access an application in a federated environment, the user will authenticate to their organization’s IdP, which will generate a SAML token attesting to the user’s identity. The application can use this information to determine whether to grant access.
• Single Sign-On (SSO): IdPs can support a single sign-on (SSO) system. With SSO, a user can authenticate once to the IdP and can access any resource that they are authorized to use.
• Auditing: An IdP has visibility into all requests for access to an organization’s resources. By logging all access requests — both successful and unsuccessful — an IdP provides valuable data for incident response and regulatory compliance.

Benefits of an IdP

The role of an IdP is to manage IAM for an organization’s applications and potentially for third-party applications via a federated authentication system. By implementing an IdP, an organization derives various benefits for itself and its users, such as:

• Simplified Access Management: IdP centralizes the management of identity within an organization. Implementing authentication and authorization in a single location reduces the complexity of defining user identities and updating access controls.
• Improved Security: Centralizing identity management also makes it easier to implement enhanced security. For example, deploying multi-factor authentication (MFA) is easier if all authentication is performed via the IdP.
• Enhanced User Experience: IdP also provides features that improve the user experience. For example, SSO eliminates the need to authenticate individually to each application or resource.
• Compliance: Centralized identity management simplifies logging and access management. As a result, an organization can more easily manage access and log access to its resources and demonstrate compliance with applicable regulations.

Conclusion

IdP is an essential component of a centralized IAM system. The IdP is responsible for maintaining identity records for an organization’s users and performing authentication and authorization for applications that rely on the IdP. By using an IdP, an organization enhances the security and user experience of its access management ecosystem.