Okta unveils AI agent controls and security alliance

Okta announced a multi-vendor alliance and new controls for managing artificial intelligence agents, including tools designed to discover agents, govern their access to business systems and interrupt activity that violates policy. The announcements were made around the company’s Oktane event on September 22 and 23, as businesses adopt software agents that can act across workplace applications and data. The Blueprint Alliance brings Okta together with technology companies including Amazon Web Services, CrowdStrike, Google Cloud, Salesforce and ServiceNow to develop a shared approach to agent security. Its proposed framework covers identifying agents and their owners, limiting access to specific tasks, monitoring activity and responding when an agent presents a risk. Members are also working on common ways to share security signals and test interoperability, though the alliance’s effectiveness across products has not yet been established. Okta’s Agent Gateway is designed to check an agent’s requests as it interacts with tools, enforce policy and log activity at runtime.