Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) — Question 192

When implementing single sign-on (SSO) on a network, which authentication approach BEST allows users to use credentials across multiple applications?

Answer options

• A. Public key infrastructure (PKI)
• B. Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML)
• C. Delegated Identity Management
• D. Federated Identity Management

Correct answer: D

Explanation

Federated Identity Management is the best approach for SSO because it allows the use of a single identity across multiple systems, making it easier for users to access different applications using the same credentials. Public key infrastructure (PKI) and SAML, while useful for security and authentication, do not inherently provide the cross-application access that federated identity does. Delegated Identity Management focuses on permission delegation rather than credential sharing across multiple applications.