Okta, the company specializing in identity and access management, has announced its acquisition of the security firm Spera. The deal, expected to conclude in the fiscal first quarter starting in early February, aims to enhance Okta’s existing identity threat detection and response (ITDR) capabilities. According to Okta, the acquisition will empower customers to enhance their identity security, posture management, and address risks more effectively.
While the financial details of the acquisition remain undisclosed, reports suggest that Okta is paying approximately $100 million to $130 million for Spera, contingent on achieving certain milestones. Okta expressed its commitment to providing customers with tools and knowledge in the ever-evolving security landscape. The company anticipates that Spera Security will augment its ITDR efforts, ensuring more secure outcomes for its customers.
Spera, founded by Dor Fledel and Ariel Kadyshevitch, offers a platform based in Palo Alto and Tel Aviv. It provides tools to identify silos across software-as-a-service and infrastructure apps, aiding in the discovery of vulnerabilities and prioritizing security issues based on regulations, attack vectors, and industry best practices. Beyond security, Spera assists companies in reducing license costs by identifying dormant accounts that can be deactivated.
With approximately 25 employees, Spera had raised $10 million prior to the acquisition. Okta envisions that Spera’s capabilities will allow its customers to assess the security posture of their identity infrastructure, apps, and services more comprehensively. The acquisition aligns with Gartner’s research, suggesting that by 2026, 90% of organizations will adopt some form of embedded ITDR strategy, a significant increase from the current range of 5% to 20%.
In a blog post, Okta highlighted the potential of Spera Security to provide richer insights and technology, enabling customers to improve their identity security posture management and respond quickly to identify, detect, and remediate risks. Okta sees the acquisition as a strategic move to attract new customers to its platform, following its previous acquisition of password manager Uno and a successful fiscal quarter that surpassed Wall Street expectations, signaling positive momentum for the publicly traded company.
