How INSO Simplified Credential Sharing with Passbolt

INSO (International NGO Safety Organisation) an independent, international Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) that provides free safety and access services to NGOs operating in high‑risk contexts. INSO operates across 22+ countries and supports 1,400+ NGOs worldwide to provide them with the support they need to deliver aid safely. With Passbolt, the IT team at INSO wanted to introduce a centralized password manager to standardize and secure credential sharing.

INSO wanted a solution for secure credential sharing within the headquarters and to facilitate second-line support for INSO’s distributed country offices.

Credential sharing within INSO was initially inconsistent, involving a mix of free tools, browser‑saved passwords, and Excel sheets. There was no single source of truth for credentials, and no visibility into who had access to what. Seeing that this approach was unsustainable, the IT team decided to look for a centralized solution to simplify credential sharing. The decision was also driven by a general awareness of cybersecurity risks and the need for a modern digital solution.

INSO had several key requirements for a new solution. Because the organization's infrastructure is cloud-native, a primary requirement was the ability to self-host the password manager. This was necessary to maintain data sovereignty, giving them control over the platform's environment and allowing them to keep data in-house.

Passbolt's open-source nature and self-hosting capabilities met these requirements.

The implementation was straightforward, allowing the team to set up the platform on their virtual infrastructure without major technical issues. Specific functions that led to the choice of Passbolt were:

• Single Sign-On (SSO): SSO was a mandatory feature for INSO. It made user login simpler and helped with adoption for employees less familiar with dedicated password managers.

• Team Sharing: The ability to share credentials with specific teams was a highly valued function that was adopted by groups both within and outside of the IT department.

• User Interface: The implementation of Passbolt was direct and hassle‑free with minimal pushback from users compared to prior open‑source tools.

Currently being used by a specific set of users, INSO also plans to expand access and onboard additional users in the future via Passbolt’s LDAP‑based provisioning.

Since adopting Passbolt, INSO has substantially elevated its security posture. Most importantly, Passbolt has provided peace of mind to the IT Team who is now sure that they are doing everything they can to secure their organization in a world where cyber attacks have become extremely common.