Consumer Single Sign-on using OpenID

Early this year, I began work with a large Dallas-area client to launch a consumer-facing website that will issue user accounts and deliver single sign-on among and between websites hosted by the company and its partners.  The site will enable users to navigate freely across a wide range of web channels:  e-commerce, social networking, affinity programs, content delivery sites, and others.

As part of that initiative, our team recommended OpenID 2.0 (http://openid.net/) as the technology solution for consumer SSO:

• OpenID is an authentication protocol that makes it easy for people to sign up and access web accounts
• OpenID enables single sign-on between web sites using a centrally-maintained username and password
• The protocol provides a way for sites to verify the identity of an end user without requesting a password for each site

The typical OpenID implementation involves integrating a given website (the “relying party”) with a separate third-party website (the “issuing provider”) that will issue accounts and manage authentication centrally – the relying party site will rely on the issuing provider for authentication. 

OpenID adoption has grown rapidly, and the US Government is piloting a program to manage citizen access to government resources using OpenID:  http://openid.net/2010/03/03/open-identity-exchange-commences-open-government-pilot-national-institutes-of-health/ 

Our project is unique because our client is launching a new issuing provider website and integrating its other web properties with the new issuing provider (as relying parties) for authentication and single sign-on.  Few companies choose (or need) to become issuing providers, but the unique shape of this client’s industry offer it a great opportunity.  Our team is excited to be helping them deliver – and I am excited to be learning about the emerging technologies in the Identity 2.0 space.

Stay tuned for more…