Providing colleagues and customers with seamless and secure access to sensitive and regulated financial data.
With over 400 colleagues in regional offices across the North of England and Scotland, our client required a solution to secure passwords and access to applications and portals like Xero and HMRC.
As part of their service, this firm logs into accountancy applications such as Xero and HRMC on behalf of their clients. Each user account had access to hundreds of client login details for any one app, so if that user account was compromised the whole practice would be compromised.Furthermore, these applications typically do not allow automatic provisioning and de-provisioning of user access.
The above resulted in both a risk to data protection and a poor colleague and customer experience:
- As users had to remember so many passwords, they typically had insecure workarounds such as writing them down.
- There was user frustration around logging into multiple applications each day.
- Passwords were shared, were static and rarely changed.
- Shared passwords were not changed when someone left the firm, creating a significant GDPR risk.
To solve this significant challenge, EveryCloud deployed the Okta Identity Cloud, thus providing strong authentication and a seamless experience for every user – without individual and repeated use of passwords.
Rather than having an icon for every client – which could run into thousands, there is now a single one that takes users to a microsite. This microsite has a search function, enabling the user to easily find the client they need to access. Once found, the user clicks the link which has an embedded SSO (Single Sign On) link, which takes them to the relevant application or portal.
As a result, security is significantly improved:
- There is now clear accountability of which user is logging in to which application and when.
- Passwords are not static, nor shared, nor written down. Users do not even know their own credentials.
- As Okta authenticates against the firm’s Active Directory, when an employee leaves the firm they cannot access the applications and portals.
Furthermore, colleagues are much happier in their roles, with the frustrations around logins and multiple passwords eradicated.
Delighted with the secure and user-friendly access solution for their employees, the firm then engaged EveryCloud to expand the solution to incorporate customer engagement. They are now able to provide a seamless and secure login experience for their thousands of customers, enabling self-serve access to the firm’s various applications such as wealth management, tax returns and payroll.
