ADFS (Active Directory Federation Services) is a component of Microsoft's identity and access management solution. It provides single sign-on (SSO) and federated identity functionality, allowing users to authenticate and access multiple applications and services using a single set of credentials.
ADFS enables organizations to establish trust relationships with other trusted entities, such as partner organizations or cloud service providers. It uses industry-standard protocols, such as Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML) and OAuth, to facilitate secure authentication and authorization processes.
With ADFS, users can log in once to their organization's identity provider (IdP) and then access various applications or services without the need to re-enter their credentials. It eliminates the need for separate usernames and passwords for each application, simplifying the user experience and improving security by centralizing authentication.
ADFS also supports claims-based authentication, where user attributes and permissions are expressed as claims. These claims can be used to make authorization decisions and control access to resources based on the user's attributes.
Overall, ADFS helps organizations establish trust, enable SSO, and enable federated identity across different systems and services, providing a seamless and secure user experience.