The
consolidation trend around identity security continues.
Okta has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Permiso Security, a cloud-native identity security company that detects threats across human, non-human, and AI identities in multi-cloud environments. Permiso monitors what identities do after they log in. Its platform looks for behavior that may point to compromised credentials, excessive access, privilege misuse, or an attacker moving through cloud systems with a valid identity.
Okta targets post-authentication attacks
That post-authentication visibility could help Okta address attacks that bypass login controls and appear legitimate at first.
According to
Nick Davis, vice president of product management at Okta, Permiso draws on more than 2,500 research-driven signals across more than 70 identity partners,
“These signals, like overprivileged access, unused permissions, anomalous agent behavior and tool usage, policy violations, and high blast radius behavior, combined with behavioral analytics, will advance our threat detection and prevention capabilities across all identity types,” Davis said.
Okta plans to use the technology to expand its identity threat detection and response capabilities. The company said the combined platform would help customers identify identity risks, reduce unnecessary privileges, and respond to suspicious activity across the identity lifecycle.
The acquisition also gives Okta a wider set of integrations across identity and security platforms, including products that may compete with parts of Okta’s portfolio. Permiso currently connects with more than 70 identity and security providers.
Davis said Okta intends to maintain that broader integration model.
“The Okta platform is built around supporting best-of-breed tools and not narrowing customers into a closed ecosystem,” he said. “Today, we offer more than 8,000 ready-to-use, prebuilt integrations through our partners in the Okta Integration Network. We intend to continue supporting integrations as the leading independent identity provider.”
Okta plans a unified security offering
Okta also expects the acquisition to bring its identity platform deeper into security operations. The company plans to combine identity threat detection with identity posture management in a single security offering.
“Fortified by Permiso’s capabilities, Okta will be unifying identity threat detection and identity posture management into a single security offering for customers,” Davis said.
After the deal closes, Permiso’s technology would add behavioral analytics for detecting attacks across human, machine, and AI identities. It would also provide deeper visibility into how AI agents use tools, access systems and operate across local, SaaS and cloud environments. The platform would bring SandyClaw, Permiso’s sandbox for analyzing AI agent skills and prompts for malicious behavior before they reach customer environments. Okta also expects the combined product to help security teams investigate and contain compromised or misconfigured AI agents in real time.
