A server administrator needs to address a sharp increase in help desk tickets related to password resets. Employees are struggling to manage unique credentials for a growing number of internal web applications, which is causing frustration and lost productivity. The goal is to simplify the login process and centralize user authentication across these diverse systems. Which of the following solutions should the administrator implement to BEST meet these requirements?
The correct answer is Single sign-on (SSO). SSO is an authentication scheme that allows a user to log in with a single set of credentials to access multiple independent software systems. This directly addresses the problem of credential fatigue and the high volume of password reset requests by centralizing authentication. Multifactor authentication (MFA) adds a layer of security by requiring multiple forms of verification but does not solve the underlying issue of managing separate passwords for each application; it would be applied to the single login, not replace the need for a centralized system. Role-based access control (RBAC) is used for authorization to define what a user can do after logging in, not for the authentication process itself. A stricter password policy would likely increase the number of password-related help desk tickets by making credentials harder to remember, which is the opposite of the desired outcome.