Which authentication approach enables single sign-on capabilities across multiple websites and is commonly implemented in PaaS deployments?

Which authentication approach enables single sign-on capabilities across multiple websites and is commonly implemented in PaaS deployments?

• A. Federation services
• B. Multi-factor authentication
• C. Role-Based Access Control
• D. Single Sign-On

Answer: (A)

Federated identity is the mechanism that allows users to authenticate once and then access multiple websites or services within a trusted ecosystem. In cloud and PaaS deployments, identity providers and standards such as SAML, OAuth 2.0, and OpenID Connect enable this cross-domain trust, so signing in with the IdP yields tokens or assertions that various applications accept. This arrangement delivers single sign-on across different sites and services, which is exactly what the question describes. Multi-factor authentication adds an extra verification step to the authentication process but does not by itself enable cross-site SSO. Role-Based Access Control governs what an authenticated user can do after login, not how authentication or SSO is achieved. Single Sign-On is the goal or outcome, but federation services provide the actual mechanism to achieve SSO across multiple domains in a cloud environment.

Federated identity is the mechanism that allows users to authenticate once and then access multiple websites or services within a trusted ecosystem. In cloud and PaaS deployments, identity providers and standards such as SAML, OAuth 2.0, and OpenID Connect enable this cross-domain trust, so signing in with the IdP yields tokens or assertions that various applications accept. This arrangement delivers single sign-on across different sites and services, which is exactly what the question describes.

Multi-factor authentication adds an extra verification step to the authentication process but does not by itself enable cross-site SSO. Role-Based Access Control governs what an authenticated user can do after login, not how authentication or SSO is achieved. Single Sign-On is the goal or outcome, but federation services provide the actual mechanism to achieve SSO across multiple domains in a cloud environment.