What is an Identity Provider (IdP)?

An IdP Identity Provider is a service that creates, maintains, and manages users' identity information while providing authentication to your dependent systems.

An IdP handles core functions like:

• Authentication: Verifying users are who they claim to be when accessing services.

• Authorization: Determining what specific systems, data, and resources individual users are allowed to use.

• User management: Storing and organizing identity profiles, preferences, and attributes to smoothly guide permissions.

Many IdPs are built around open standards and protocols to enable interoperability, such as SAML for sharing authentication data, OAuth for authorization, and OpenID Connect for single sign-on.

Popular IdPs include Microsoft Azure Active Directory, Okta, and Google Identity. Each option centralizes user management and credentials while integrating various applications and systems.

What is user identity?

A user's identity refers to the unique attributes and credentials that distinguish an individual within a digital system or network. When logging into accounts, there are primarily three factors that verify who someone is:

• Something you know: This usually refers to a password known only to the user. While widely used, passwords can be easily forgotten or guessed.

• Something you have: Ownership of a trusted device, such as a phone, serves as further evidence of identity, adding a layer of assurance beyond knowledge-based credentials.

• Something you are: Biometric characteristics, like fingerprints, offer a reliable link to an individual's physical identity. 

Each factor brings a different level of assurance. Combining multiple factors creates even more robust authentication. 

What problems that IdPs solve?

As managing identities becomes more complicated, issues like password reuse and compliance gaps due to isolated data can arise. Implementing an IdP brings control to your identity infrastructure, tightening security and simplifying compliance. With attributes and permissions handled through one coordinated system, you can confidently apply policies wherever users interact with your organization. Here is how an IdP assists with some common problems:

• Password fatigue: Reusing or frequently resetting passwords can be frustrating. An IdP enables single sign-on (SSO)  across multiple systems, eliminating the need for redundant credentials.

• Inefficient user management: Keeping profiles updated across separate directories takes time and effort. Centralized user records and attributes reduce repetitive tasks.

• Inconsistent security policies: Gaps emerge when each app or service sets its own rules. An IdP ensures uniform protection of identity data through one coordinated standard.

• Compliance challenges: Regulations like GDPR and HIPAA impose steep penalties for non-compliance. An IdP establishes structured identity governance, streamlining audits and supporting regulatory standards.

• Siloed user databases: While isolated identity data makes it harder to manage permissions, consolidated profiles improve visibility and control.

• Scalability issues: Expanding user populations and services can overwhelm limited infrastructure, but a flexible IdP platform flexibly accommodates growth.

• Security vulnerabilities: Every system with separate login credentials adds potential risk. An IdP concentrates security efforts, offering more robust defenses than scattered credentials.

• User experience fragmentation: Switching between varied sign-in flows frustrates customers and impacts productivity. Single sign-on through an IdP simplifies access.

• Audit and reporting complexities: Understanding activity across disparate logs is time-consuming and error-prone, but the centralized auditing provided by an IdP provides transparent insights.

IdP vs service provider

Alongside Identity Providers (IdPs), Service Providers (SPs) are critical to the identity management process. While an IdP focuses on verifying and managing user identities, an SP provides the resources, services, or applications users need. Understanding the distinction between these two roles and how they work together is essential for creating a secure and efficient identity management system.

Let's compare the roles of an IdP and an SP in the following key areas:

• Primary function: The IdP is responsible for authenticating users and managing their credentials, ensuring they can securely interact with various services. The SP, on the other hand, delivers the applications or resources that users interact with, depending on the IdP to verify user identities before granting permission to use them.

• Data ownership: The IdP owns identity data, such as user profiles, credentials, and access rights. Meanwhile, the SP stores any additional user data generated within its own application, such as activity logs or specific user preferences tied to the service.

• Security responsibility: An IdP is responsible for identity security, ensuring the authentication process is secure and following best practices. The SP, while not directly responsible for authentication, relies on the IdP to authenticate users securely and is responsible for securing its own application and data once users are authenticated.

• User interaction: Users primarily interact with SP applications. However, authentication is handled through the IdP, which means users are often able to sign in once and gain permission to access multiple services through a single sign-on (SSO) experience. This simplifies the user experience across different applications.

• Standards implementation: An IdP follows identity standards like SAML, OAuth, and OpenID Connect to enable secure connections to any compliant SPs. SPs integrate with these standards to communicate effectively with IdPs, maintaining secure and smooth user interactions.

10 benefits of implementing an IdP

Now that we've covered an IdP's main roles and functions, let's look at the top benefits it offers your organization. Implementing an IdP simplifies identity management and opens up new opportunities for greater security and efficiency. By consolidating identity functions into one central hub, you gain better visibility and control while your users enjoy a smoother experience. Specifically, an IdP :

1. Enhances security: Strong authentication protocols and integrated credential management raise the shield against threats by concentrating defenses. Identity data also benefits from consistent protection policies enforced uniformly.

2. Improves user experience: Single sign-on eliminates redundant logins, allowing smooth application transitions. 

3. Reduces administrative overhead: Profile synchronization automates manual user provisioning and updates. Simplified approval workflows also benefit admission requests.

4. Increases productivity: With frictionless permits and streamlined provisioning, your employees spend less time on logins and more on meaningful work.

5. Ensures compliance: Centralized auditing and reports make documenting compliance with governance and data privacy regulations easier.

6. Enhances scalability: The platform quickly expands identity services to accommodate growing user populations and new applications.

7. Reduces cost: As the IdP handles more tasks, the cost of help desk tickets and manual identity processes decreases over time.

8. Enables faster onboarding: New users and contractors are provisioned quickly through profile pre-population and automated access provisioning.

9. Improves visibility: A single pane reveals which users interact with what applications and resources across an extended ecosystem.

10. Enhances flexibility: IdPs are future-proof technology choices as they support multiple protocols and have an adaptable framework ready for changing needs.

Integrating Fastly with identity providers

By centralizing identity functions, IdPs make accessing services across different environments easier while strengthening security and compliance. This approach improves the user experience, reduces overhead, and enhances visibility, transforming how identities are managed.

Fastly integrates with leading IdPs to boost protection and simplify sign-ins. The solution consolidates identity control within a centralized hub, maintaining high levels of security and compliance. Your users only need to log in once through their IdP, after which Fastly manages the authentication token, allowing them to use multiple services without repeated logins. Here’s a breakdown of Fastly’s top benefits:

• Centralized authentication: Fastly allows identity providers to act as a single sign-on point, reducing the hassle of numerous passwords while strengthening overall protection.

• Token-based access: The solution uses tokens issued by the identity provider to grant users swift admission to multiple services without repetitive authentication steps, streamlining their experience.

• Compliance support: Integration with IdPs ensures consistent application of security rules across environments, simplifying demonstrations of adherence to relevant regulations.

• Enhanced API security: Fastly secures application programming interfaces (API) by confirming that only authenticated users can see sensitive information or functionality.

• Federated identity management: The platform simplifies navigating diverse systems by permitting a single identity to enable admission to multiple domains or offerings.

Learn more about how Fastly can enhance your access control strategy by requesting a personalized demo.