Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML) is the best solution for the manufacturing organization that wants to establish a Federated Identity Management (FIM) system with its 20 different supplier companies. FIM is a process that allows the sharing and recognition of identities across different organizations that have a trust relationship. FIM enables the users of one organization to access the resources or services of another organization without having to create or maintain multiple accounts or credentials. FIM can provide several benefits, such as:
Improving the user experience and convenience by reducing the need for multiple logins and passwords
Enhancing the security and privacy by minimizing the exposure and duplication of sensitive information
Increasing the efficiency and productivity by streamlining the authentication and authorization processes
Reducing the cost and complexity by simplifying the identity management and administration
SAML is a standard protocol that supports FIM by allowing the exchange of authentication and authorization information between different parties. SAML uses XML-based messages, called assertions, to convey the identity, attributes, and entitlements of a user to a service provider. SAML defines three roles for the parties involved in FIM:
Identity provider (IdP): the party that authenticates the user and issues the SAML assertion
Service provider (SP): the party that provides the resource or service that the user wants to access
User or principal: the party that requests access to the resource or service
SAML works as follows:
The user requests access to a resource or service from the SP
The SP redirects the user to the IdP for authentication
The IdP authenticates the user and generates a SAML assertion that contains the user’s identity, attributes, and entitlements
The IdP sends the SAML assertion to the SP
The SP validates the SAML assertion and grants or denies access to the user based on the information in the assertion
SAML is the best solution for the manufacturing organization that wants to establish a FIM system with its 20 different supplier companies, because it can enable the seamless and secure access to the resources or services across the different organizations, without requiring the users to create or maintain multiple accounts or credentials. SAML can also provide interoperability and compatibility between different platforms and technologies, as it is based on a standard and open protocol.
The other options are not the best solutions for the manufacturing organization that wants to establish a FIM system with its 20 different supplier companies, but rather solutions that have other limitations or drawbacks. Trusted third-party certification is a process that involves a third party, such as a certificate authority (CA), that issues and verifies digital certificates that contain the public key and identity information of a user or an entity. Trusted third-party certification can provide authentication and encryption for the communication between different parties, but it does not provide authorization or entitlement information for the access to the resources or services. Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) is a protocol that allows the access and management of directory services, such as Active Directory, that store the identity and attribute information of users and entities. LDAP can provide a centralized and standardized way to store and retrieve identity and attribute information, but it does not provide a mechanism to exchange or federate the information across different organizations. Cross-certification is a process that involves two or more CAs that establish a trust relationship and recognize each other’s certificates. Cross-certification can extend the trust and validity of the certificates across different domains or organizations, but it does not provide a mechanism to exchange or federate the identity, attribute, or entitlement information.
