Okta to acquire Permiso Security to strengthen identity threat detection
In a blog post, Okta cited data which shows that about 58% of executives have dealt with an AI-related security incident in the past year. Okta said Permiso will bring its large research base to the deal, drawing on thousands of identity-related detection signals across dozens of partner integrations to flag issues like excessive permissions, unused access, and unusual behaviour from AI agents.
Cloud-based identity and access management firm Okta has agreed to acquire Permiso Security, a company that provides an identity security platform designed to identify and address threats from various types of identities, including human, machine, and AI agents. The terms of the deal have not been disclosed, but according to TechCrunch, Okta values Permiso at $200 million and the transaction is expected to be finalized in the third quarter of Okta's fiscal year 2027.
In a blog post, Okta highlighted statistics indicating that approximately 58% of executives have encountered an AI-related security incident within the past year. The acquisition will allow Okta to integrate Permiso's extensive research base, which analyzes thousands of identity-related detection signals from dozens of partner integrations.
This will enable security teams to gain a comprehensive understanding of identity risks associated with human employees, service accounts, and autonomous AI agents, eliminating the need for separate tools to monitor each category individually.
The deal also extends Okta's reach beyond its core identity management services into the realm of security operations. By incorporating Permiso's capabilities, Okta will gain broader visibility into the behavior of AI agents, whether they are operating locally, in the cloud, or within SaaS tools. Additionally, Okta will integrate a sandboxing system called SandyClaw, which is designed to evaluate the skills and prompts of AI agents to prevent supply-chain style attacks before they reach production.
Ely Kahn, Okta's chief product officer, emphasized the significance of this acquisition in helping organizations secure what he referred to as the "agentic enterprise," where humans, applications, and AI agents increasingly collaborate. Jason Martin, co-founder of Permiso, expressed the startup's mission to stay ahead of identity-based threats in the complex security landscape.
Permiso was co-founded by Martin and Paul Nguyen in 2020 and emerged from stealth mode two years later. The company has raised approximately $29 million to date, according to the report.
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