Okta Acquires ScaleFT to Bring Zero Trust to the Enterprise
July 18 2018 - 11:00AM
Business Wire
Acquisition will further identity leader’s
innovation in contextual access management
Okta, Inc. (NASDAQ:OKTA), the leading independent provider of
identity for the enterprise, today announced it has acquired
ScaleFT, the Zero Trust security company, which provides access
solutions for the modern workforce. Together, Okta and ScaleFT will
bring Zero Trust to the enterprise by providing organizations with
a framework to protect sensitive data, without compromising on
experience.
As the proliferation of applications and devices continues, the
network perimeter is disappearing and organizations must rethink
how they secure their extended enterprises — employees, contractors
and partners. Organizations of every size are realizing the
criticality of moving to a Zero Trust framework by building secure
micro-perimeters, limiting the risks associated with excessive user
privileges and access, and dramatically improving security
detection and response with analytics and automation. By leveraging
ScaleFT’s Zero Trust platform, and combining it with the leading
Okta Identity Cloud, Okta will further enable customers to easily
validate users, devices, application and network information and
securely grant access to data. Okta and ScaleFT will deliver
next-generation continuous authentication capabilities to secure
server access from cloud to ground — whether it’s for Amazon Web
Services, Secure Shell (SSH) or Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP).
“Companies have realized they can no longer trust their network
and have to understand device security — instead of trusting
everyone behind a firewall, now IT and security leaders must trust
no one, inside or outside the organization. To help our customers
increase security while also meeting the demands of the modern
workforce, we’re acquiring ScaleFT to further our contextual access
management vision — and ensure the right people get access to the
right resources for the shortest amount of time,” said Frederic
Kerrest, Chief Operating Officer and co-founder, Okta. “Zero Trust
is the security paradigm for today’s threat landscape, and identity
is the unifying component which makes it all possible. In order to
implement Zero Trust the right way, organizations must move away
from the static credentials and access controls, the antiquated
approach of perimeter-based security, and instead focus on adaptive
and context-aware controls to make better, continuous access
decisions.”
Founded in 2015, ScaleFT is a pioneer in Zero Trust providing a
BeyondCorp-inspired access management platform that enables secure
remote access without a VPN. The ScaleFT team collectively has
decades of experience in IT, coming from companies such as
Rackspace, The Apache Foundation, Yahoo! and more. CEO and
co-founder Jason Luce will manage the transition between the two
companies, and CTO and co-founder Paul Querna will lead strategy
and execution of Okta's Zero Trust architecture. Marc Rogers, CSO,
will join Okta as Executive Director, Cybersecurity Strategy.
Making Zero Trust a reality for Okta customers
Today, Okta makes the Zero Trust model accessible for customers
in the following ways:
- Centralizing identity and access
control via Single Sign-On (SSO): Okta unifies identity
infrastructure for IT to reduce account management complexity,
while also providing access for users to eliminate passwords while
simplifying access. With the Okta Identity Cloud, customers can
mitigate risk and reduce identity sprawl by restricting access to
services via intelligent SAML connections.
- Ensuring strong authentication
across all services via Multi-factor Authentication (MFA): Okta
customers can enable ‘MFA Everywhere’ through the Okta Integration
Network’s over 5,500 pre-built integrations to applications and
infrastructure providers, and extend coverage to on-premises
applications via support for RADIUS, RDP, ADFS and LDAP.
Ultimately, Okta empowers organizations to make intelligent,
contextual access decisions based on device and connection
attributes.
- Reducing attack surfaces through
automated provisioning and deprovisioning: Automated
provisioning and deprovisioning via Okta accelerates consistent
onboarding, while eliminating orphan accounts. Okta also offers
complete lifecycle management to ensure people have the right level
of access to the right applications at the right time.
- Providing visibility and response to
credential compromise and account takeover attacks: With a
centralized view into all authentication data across cloud, mobile
and on-premises applications, Okta helps its customers to identify
unusual and suspicious behaviors and quickly take action to
mitigate threats.
With ScaleFT, Okta will further encompass the network security
focus of Zero Trust with the device-centric approach of BeyondCorp.
Customers such as 21st Century Fox will benefit from the integrated
Zero Trust platform, which provides employees with a seamless user
experience and enables IT teams to increase the organization's
security posture.
“As an organization, 21st Century Fox is committed to giving our
people access to best-in-class technology, and because of that, our
technology strategy has to be a heterogeneous one. The Okta
Identity Cloud helps our apps work together, gives us visibility
and the ability to take action when we see suspicious behavior, and
at the same time, provides our users with a delightful experience,”
said Melody Hildebrandt, Global Chief Information Security Officer,
21st Century Fox. “The investment Okta is announcing today
underscores its deep commitment to empowering its partners with
next generation tools and experiences for end-users.”
About Okta
Okta is the leading independent provider of identity for the
enterprise. The Okta Identity Cloud enables organizations to both
secure and manage their extended enterprise, and transform their
customers’ experiences. With over 5,500 pre-built integrations to
applications and infrastructure providers, Okta customers can
easily and securely adopt the technologies they need to fulfill
their missions. Over 4,700 organizations, including 20th Century
Fox, JetBlue, Nordstrom, Slack, Teach for America and Twilio trust
Okta to securely connect their people and technology.
Cautionary Language Concerning Forward-Looking
Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements relating
to expectations, plans, and prospects including expectations
relating to the benefits that will be derived from this
transaction. These forward-looking statements are based upon the
current expectations and beliefs of Okta’s management as of the
date of this release, and are subject to certain risks and
uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially
from those described in the forward-looking statements including,
without limitation, the risk of adverse and unpredictable
macro-economic conditions and risks related to integration of the
companies. All forward-looking statements in this press release are
based on information available to the Company as of the date
hereof, and Okta disclaims any obligation to update these
forward-looking statements.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180718005174/en/
Okta, Inc.Jenna Kozel Kingpress@okta.com
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