Okta agrees to buy Permiso Security for about $200 million

In short: Okta has agreed to acquire Permiso Security, a startup that helps companies spot suspicious activity involving AI agents and other machine accounts, for just under $200 million, according to TechCrunch.

What happened

Okta, a company known for helping businesses manage logins and access, said it signed a definitive agreement to buy Permiso Security. Okta did not publish the price.

TechCrunch reported the deal is valued at just under $200 million and is structured as an almost all-cash transaction, citing a source familiar with the deal. Okta did not dispute the figure when asked, but it did not share more details.

Okta said it expects the acquisition to close in the third quarter of its fiscal year 2027, as long as normal closing conditions are met.

Permiso, founded by former FireEye executives Paul Nguyen and Jason Martin, makes tools that help security teams detect suspicious behavior in cloud environments. “Cloud” here means a company’s rented online computing systems, like using a storage unit instead of a garage. Permiso has also expanded to monitoring AI agents and other “non-human identities,” which are accounts used by software, not people.

In April, Permiso introduced a product called SandyClaw, which tests AI agent “skills” in a sandbox (a safe practice area) to look for harmful behavior before deployment.

Why it matters

More companies are letting software act on their behalf, including AI agents that can run tasks automatically. That creates more accounts that can be stolen or misused, like extra keys to an office that no one is watching. By buying Permiso, Okta is aiming to go beyond checking who logs in, and to better monitor what happens after access is granted.

Source: TechCrunch AI