The company is seeking to add capabilities in the fast-growing area of identity threat detection and response with the acquisition deal.
Okta is seeking to add capabilities in the fast-growing area of identity threat detection and response (ITDR) with the announcement Thursday that it plans to acquire a startup in the segment, Permiso Security.
Terms of the acquisition, which is expected to be completed by the end of October, were not disclosed by Okta.
[Related: How AI Agents Are Making Identity Security More ‘Critical’ Than Ever: Partners]
The acquisition is aimed at bringing Permiso’s technology for detection and mitigation of identity threats—across the full range of identities including human, non-human and agentic—to the Okta identity security platform.
In particular, Permiso’s offering delivers key identity risk signals and behavioral analytics as well as functionality for advanced threat detection, Okta said in a news release.
The plan to combine Permiso’s technology with the Okta platform seeks to ultimately accelerate the surfacing of identity-driven risk, while enabling partners and customers to more easily address excessive privileges, according to Okta.
Notably, the deal is also aimed at expanding Okta’s platform “beyond identity management into the core Security Operations Center,” the company said in the release.
It’s clear that long-standing gaps in identity security will increasingly see exploitation in cyberattacks going forward, including in attacks that are autonomously executed by AI agents, executives from Permiso told CRN in an interview earlier this year.
Because nearly all attacks exploit identity and privileges in some way today, autonomous attacks will necessarily function the same way, said Jason Martin, co-founder and co-CEO at Permiso.
Identities with excessive privileges are already a widespread problem, and companies that fail to address the issue will be leaving the door open for attackers to utilize the over-permissioned identities to enable attacks, Martin said.
“It’s very likely going to be catastrophic if people don’t get identity under control,” he said during the previous interview.
Without a doubt, identity security is becoming an increasingly central component of AI strategies around the industry, according to Chris Konrad, vice president of global cyber at St. Louis-based World Wide Technology, No. 10 on CRN’s Solution Provider 500 for 2026.
The focus on identity is rising fast with the growing adoption of AI agents that are designed to access applications and data, requiring the extension of security measures around identities and permissions to agents, Konrad noted.
When it comes to the push for agents, “identity is playing right in the heart of all of that,” he said. “These agents need an identity. And they need the same governance, policies and controls around that [as humans].”
The Okta-Permiso deal is the second major identity security acquisition to be announced this week. Data security startup Cyera announced Tuesday that it has reached an agreement to acquire Oasis Security, a specialist in non-human identity security, for $1 billion.
