Okta boosts security with new identity management tools
Okta has unveiled new innovations aimed at helping organisations bolster their security posture and stay abreast of the evolving threat landscape. These developments are intended to assist financial services companies in safeguarding and streamlining sensitive digital experiences.
Okta has focused on addressing the increasing prominence of identity as the primary attack vector in today's threat landscape. According to their data, over 80% of data breaches involve some form of compromised identity, which includes legacy password compromises, privileged account takeovers, credential phishing and abuse, and stolen API keys. Concurrently, companies are deploying an average of 93 applications from various vendors globally, contributing to a broader attack surface.
Cybercriminals are reportedly 300 times more likely to target financial services companies compared to other industries. These organisations are particularly vulnerable due to the sensitive nature of customer interactions, which are susceptible to fraud and subject to stringent regulations. As a result, heightened security and privacy measures are a priority.
In response, Okta has introduced Identity Security Posture Management, a new product designed to proactively identify vulnerabilities and security gaps in identity systems. This tool aims to continuously assess an organisation's identity risk posture, uncover critical misconfigurations such as inconsistent multi-factor authentication (MFA) enforcement and account sprawl, and prioritise remediation based on risk severity.
Arnab Bose, Chief Product Officer, Workforce Identity Cloud at Okta, explained the increasing complexity of identity systems and the lack of visibility and risk analysis that security teams face in their various cloud and SaaS environments. Bose stated, "With Okta's Identity Security Posture Management, companies now have an in-depth view of their identity security risk, working as the first line of defence so security teams can discover gaps and take immediate action to reduce their attack surface."
Identity Security Posture Management offers visibility into identity postures across Okta, third-party identity providers such as Azure AD, and cloud and SaaS environments like AWS, Salesforce.com, Office 365, and GitHub. It provides identity-focused risk analysis by leveraging identity data and threat intelligence sources to deliver a comprehensive inventory of identities, permissions, actions, and risks. This global view maps to popular security frameworks like NIST, SOX, and ISO27001.
Additionally, the tool provides prioritised insights that drive remediation by delivering a set of contextualised and granular insights and remediation actions crucial for mitigating identity-driven threats. It aims to achieve faster security outcomes through continuous analysis of identity security exposure and supports audit and compliance reporting on identity security risks and threats.
Xactly, a global leader in sales performance software, has started using Okta's Identity Security Posture Management to enhance visibility into its identity posture across Okta and cloud and SaaS environments. Matthew Sharp, Chief Information Security Officer at Xactly, noted, "Identity has become the key to modern security. Controlling the identity sprawl while enabling business is a challenge that legacy solutions could not resolve. Identity Security Posture Management uniquely provides us with ongoing visibility and reduces identity risks with a quick time-to-value and a data-driven approach."
In addition to Identity Security Posture Management, Okta has announced Identity Threat Protection with Okta AI, available globally in early access for Workforce Identity Cloud customers. This tool, powered by insights from an organisation's security stack, detects and responds to identity threats in real time during and post-authentication. It amplifies security signal sharing across the ecosystem and orchestrates remedial actions through integrations with partners such as Cloudflare, CrowdStrike, Jamf, Material Security, Netskope, Palo Alto Networks, Rubrik, SGNL, Zimperium, and Zscaler.
Okta has also reported financial results for the second quarter of fiscal year 2025, showing a 16% year-over-year growth in Q2 revenue, a 17% increase in subscription revenue, and a 13% growth in current remaining performance obligations to USD $1.995 billion. Todd McKinnon, Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of Okta, commented, "We're delivering all of this product innovation while achieving record profitability and maintaining strong cash flow. In today's dynamic cybersecurity landscape, identity is security, and Okta is dedicated to providing our customers with modern solutions to meet their evolving needs."
