SAML (Security Assertion Markup Language) is an XML-based standard for exchanging authentication and authorization data between parties, primarily between an identity provider (IdP) and a service provider (SP). It is widely used in enterprise environments and web-based applications to provide secure single sign-on (SSO) and identity federation.
Here are some of the things that SAML can do:
- Authentication: SAML enables users to authenticate with an identity provider and obtain a security token, which can be used to access protected resources on the service provider.
- Authorization: SAML provides a mechanism for the identity provider to communicate authorization decisions to the service provider, allowing the service provider to determine whether the user has access to the requested resource.
- Single Sign-On (SSO): SAML enables users to authenticate once with the identity provider and then access multiple service providers without having to re-authenticate.
- Identity Federation: SAML enables the sharing of user identity and attribute information between organizations, allowing users to access resources across different domains and security boundaries.
- Security: SAML provides security features such as digital signatures and encryption to protect the confidentiality, integrity, and authenticity of authentication and authorization data.
Overall, SAML is a widely used standard for secure SSO and identity federation, enabling organizations to simplify user access to applications and resources, reduce the number of passwords users need to remember, and improve the security of user authentication and authorization.