How do you enforce the use of SSO (Single Sign-On) & MFA (Multi-Factor Authentication) within your company?
The importance of SSO (Single Sign-On) & MFA (Multi-Factor Authentication) goes way beyond passwords and how they are used and protected. The simple combination of just a user name and password is no longer an effective means of protecting our personal information. With all the data breaches, malware, and identity theft present in our society, it's no surprise that both public and private organizations are taking extra precautions to protect themselves. You will hear this question a lot in interviews because every company tries to implement some sort of SSO and MFA policy to protect their employees. Some example questions might focus on how or when you decide to use MFA or SSO.
"My current company has SSO and MFA in place. I was responsible for recommending, implementing and executing this policy to help protect employee and company information. This was a debated topic within our leadership because MFA has an extra step in the process, so I had to justify why this was important to implement both for various applications and access to certain systems that housed sensitive information. My argument was to do this for the overall security of the company. SSO is more convenient for users, but has a higher security risk. MFA on the other hand has more security, but is less convenient because of the extra steps involved."
"In order to understand how both SSO and MFA work and the advantages and disadvantages of each, I had to record a video explaining how it works, and how best to use its capabilities. Here's a breakdown of a few lessons that was taught:
SSO (Single Sign-On)
oSSO is quick and convenient for the user. It saves time by not having the user log into several different applications.
oFewer trouble support tickets into helpdesk.
oUsers only have to remember one password at any given time.
oBiometric authentication can be used for some applications.
MFA (Multi-Factor Authentication)
oMFA requires additional steps for extra security protection like recovery questions.
oIt can also read biometric/face recognition as well.
oIt has the ability to find your location to authenticate your IP address."
The interviewer will ask you many operational questions throughout the interview, similar to this one. They are trying to determine how you go about performing the tasks required by this job. This will enable them to determine if you are qualified for the role and will be able to achieve the results they are hiring you for. Your answer should be brief and to the point when responding to operational questions. Either describe the process you use or walk the interviewer through the steps you take to accomplish the task they ask you about. As with any question, always be prepared for a follow-up.
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