diff --git a/controller/Auth/BaseAuthInterface.php b/controller/Auth/BaseAuthInterface.php
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..4c3918b4b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/controller/Auth/BaseAuthInterface.php
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+<?php
+
+interface BaseAuthInterface {
+
+	public function __construct(Controller $controller);
+
+	/**
+	 * Validate if all requirements are met to load this
+	 * authentication method. This function is useful for
+	 * validating configuration options inside Config.ttl.
+	 *
+	 * @return bool
+	 */
+	public function validate(): bool;
+
+	/**
+	 * Checks if the current user has a valid session on the
+	 * authorization endpoint.
+	 *
+	 * @return bool
+	 */
+	public function isSignedIn(): bool;
+
+	/**
+	 * Signs in the current user
+	 *
+	 * @return mixed
+	 */
+	public function signIn();
+
+	/**
+	 * Signs out the user
+	 *
+	 * @return mixed
+	 */
+	public function signOut();
+
+	/**
+	 * Retrieve the user's attributes
+	 *
+	 * @return array
+	 */
+	public function getUserAttributes(): array;
+
+
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/controller/Auth/SimpleSamlPHP/SimpleSamlPHP.php b/controller/Auth/SimpleSamlPHP/SimpleSamlPHP.php
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..b152df607
--- /dev/null
+++ b/controller/Auth/SimpleSamlPHP/SimpleSamlPHP.php
@@ -0,0 +1,118 @@
+<?php
+
+/**
+ * SimpleSamlPHP authentication layer for Skosmos
+ *
+ * Required variables in your config.ttl:
+ * skosmos:authenticationProvider "SimpleSamlPHP" ;
+ * skosmos:authProviderIncludeDirectory "<SimpleSamlPHP installation path>" ;
+ * skosmos:authProviderAuthEntity "<What authentication entity must be used? For simple testing use 'admin'>" .
+ */
+class SimpleSamlPHP implements BaseAuthInterface {
+
+	/**
+	 * @var Model
+	 */
+	private $model;
+
+	/**
+	 * Placeholder of the SimpleSamlPHP authentication entity.
+	 *
+	 * @var string|null
+	 */
+	private $authEntity;
+
+	/**
+	 * The configured application URL
+	 *
+	 * @var string
+	 */
+	private $baseHref;
+
+	/**
+	 * @param Model $model
+	 */
+	public function __construct(Controller $controller) {
+		$this->model = $controller->model;
+		$this->baseHref = $controller->getBaseHref();
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * @inheritDoc
+	 */
+	public function validate(): bool {
+		$authDirectory = $this->model->getConfig()->getLiteral( 'skosmos:authProviderIncludeDirectory' );
+		if (!$authDirectory) {
+			return false;
+		}
+
+		$authEntity = $this->model->getConfig()->getLiteral( 'skosmos:authProviderAuthEntity' );
+		if (!$authEntity) {
+			return false;
+		} else {
+			$this->authEntity = $authEntity;
+		}
+
+		$sspAutoloader = $authDirectory . DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR . 'lib/_autoload.php';
+		if (!file_exists($sspAutoloader)) {
+			return false;
+		} else {
+			require $sspAutoloader;
+		}
+
+		return true;
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * @inheritDoc
+	 */
+	public function isSignedIn(): bool {
+		return $this->getSessionFromRequest()->isValid($this->authEntity);
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * @inheritDoc
+	 */
+	public function signIn() {
+		$this->getAuthenticationSource()->requireAuth([
+			'ReturnTo' => $this->baseHref
+		]);
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * @inheritDoc
+	 */
+	public function signOut() {
+		$this->getAuthenticationSource()->logout([
+			'ReturnTo' => $this->baseHref
+		]);
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * @inheritDoc
+	 */
+	public function getUserAttributes(): array {
+		if ($this->isSignedIn()) {
+			return [];
+		}
+		return [
+			'auth_source' => $this->authEntity,
+			'attributes' => $this->getAuthenticationSource()->getAttributes()
+		];
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * @return \SimpleSAML\Auth\Simple
+	 */
+	private function getAuthenticationSource() {
+		return new SimpleSAML\Auth\Simple($this->authEntity);
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * @return SimpleSAML\Session::getSessionFromRequest()
+	 */
+	private function getSessionFromRequest() {
+		return SimpleSAML\Session::getSessionFromRequest();
+	}
+
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/controller/Controller.php b/controller/Controller.php
index bb0e09485..78cfa113a 100644
--- a/controller/Controller.php
+++ b/controller/Controller.php
@@ -45,8 +45,47 @@ public function __construct($model)
             $this->languages[$langcode]['name'] = gettext('in_this_language');
             $this->languages[$langcode]['lemma'] = Punic\Language::getName($langcode, $langcode);
         }
+
+		// Check if we have an authentication provider configured
+		// If so; check if the configured provider is actually a class we can use
+		if (($authProvider = $this->model->getConfig()->getAuthenticationProvider()) && class_exists($authProvider)) {
+			$this->invokeAuthenticationLayer(new $authProvider($this));
+		}
     }
 
+	/**
+	 * Invokes the authentication layer
+	 *
+	 * @param BaseAuthInterface $provider
+	 * @return void
+	 */
+	private function invokeAuthenticationLayer(BaseAuthInterface $authProvider) {
+
+		// Validate the authentication provider's configuration parameters
+		if ($authProvider->validate()) {
+
+			// We don't have a valid user session; so sign in the user
+			if (!$authProvider->isSignedIn()) {
+				$authProvider->signIn();
+
+			// We have a valid session for this user; see if it wants to do anything..
+			} elseif (isset($_GET['auth_do'])) {
+				$action = $_GET['auth_do'];
+
+				// Signout
+				if ($action === 'signout') {
+					$authProvider->signOut();
+
+				// Retrieve user info
+				} else if ($action === 'info') {
+					echo json_encode($authProvider->getUserAttributes());
+					$this->sendHeader('Content-Type: application/json');
+					exit();
+				}
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
     /**
      * Sets the locale language properties from the parameter (used by gettext and some Model classes).
      * @param string $lang language parameter eg. 'fi' for Finnish.
diff --git a/model/BaseConfig.php b/model/BaseConfig.php
index befa2b8aa..e79ad7faf 100644
--- a/model/BaseConfig.php
+++ b/model/BaseConfig.php
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ abstract class BaseConfig extends DataObject
      * @param boolean $default the default value if the value is not set in configuration
      * @return boolean the boolean value for the given property, or the default value if not found
      */
-    protected function getBoolean($property, $default = false)
+    public function getBoolean($property, $default = false)
     {
         $val = $this->getResource()->getLiteral($property);
         if ($val) {
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ protected function getResources($property)
      * @param string $lang preferred language for the literal
      * @return string string value for the given property, or the default value if not found
      */
-    protected function getLiteral($property, $default=null, $lang=null)
+    public function getLiteral($property, $default=null, $lang=null)
     {
         if (!isset($lang)) {
             $lang = $this->getEnvLang();
diff --git a/model/GlobalConfig.php b/model/GlobalConfig.php
index 7a1719262..24e2e7616 100644
--- a/model/GlobalConfig.php
+++ b/model/GlobalConfig.php
@@ -360,4 +360,11 @@ public function getCollationEnabled()
     {
         return $this->getBoolean('skosmos:sparqlCollationEnabled', FALSE);
     }
+
+	/**
+	 * @return string|null
+	 */
+	public function getAuthenticationProvider() {
+		return $this->getLiteral('skosmos:authenticationProvider', false);
+	}
 }