Are you interacting with man or machine? Such questions are bound to increase in an era led by Artificial Intelligence (AI) and digital interactions. Identity has indeed become one of the most critical aspects of security. The ability to distinguish between real and malicious actors, identifying deepfakes to AI-driven phishing scams are paramount.
In coming years, quantum computers will add another dimension to security — making traditional methods of security vulnerable and offering new opportunities to build secure systems.
For San Francisco-based Nasdaq listed $2.6 billion Okta, solving these challenges is at the core of its business of identity and access management. In 2023 Okta set up a captive centre in Bangalore. With over 19,000 customers globally including Open AI, Warner Brothers, Hitachi, FedEx and NTT, Okta is seeing a growing demand for enterprise-grade identity solutions.
Ben Goodman, senior vice president & general manager for Asia-Pacific and Japan at Okta, says identity is now a strategic asset for businesses. “When we think about identity in the context of business, it falls under four key areas,” he explains. First, employee identity —ensuring that internal users have secure access to the tools and data they need.
Second, third-party identity, where partners and vendors require controlled access to corporate systems. Third, customer identity — how brands authenticate and engage users in a secure manner. And finally, with AI transforming industries, machine-to-machine identity is becoming an increasingly critical factor.
Okta has been expanding its presence in India since launching operations in August 2023. “We’ve grown to nearly 500 employees in India, spanning go-to-market, engineering, and finance operations,” says Goodman, a seasoned tech leader with stints across Adobe, Dell EMC, New Relic (an American web tracking and analytics company).
According to Goodman, 80% of security breaches stem from credential theft, and deepfake-related attacks have surged by 700% year-over-year. At the same time, mergers and acquisitions are at record highs in India, up 48% last year over 2023. M&A’s also create vulnerabilities as cybercriminals target companies during such activity as it’s a period of transition. If a Microsoft-centric firm buys a company that runs on AWS — the security implications are enormous. Without a flexible, identity-first approach, enterprises struggle to integrate new users and systems securely.
Okta has developed a broad portfolio of services, ranging from passwordless authentication and biometrics to real-time threat detection. In 2021 Okta acquired Auth0, a specialist in authentication solutions. “With the rise of AI, more systems will be automated,” says Goodman. Organizations need identity platforms that can seamlessly integrate AI-powered services while maintaining security and user experience.
Deep Fake threats are a big area of concern. AI-generated videos and voice clones make it easier for attackers to impersonate people, manipulate financial transactions, and bypass traditional authentication methods.
Goodman believes the best defense is adopting phishing-resistant authentication methods such as passwordless login and biometrics. “If you don’t rely on passwords, you significantly reduce the risk of credential theft,” he says. “We’re seeing a huge shift toward biometric authentication — face ID, voice recognition, and behavioral analytics — because they are much harder to compromise than static passwords.”
On the other hand, quantum technology, still in its early stages, has the potential to break current encryption methods, rendering traditional security systems vulnerable. “Quantum computing will create new challenges for security, but it will also enable more advanced authentication techniques,” Goodman says. There will be quantum-resistant encryption and quantum-generated authentication factors integrated into identity platforms. “Just as AI can be used for cyberattacks, it can also be leveraged for cybersecurity defense,” adds Goodman.
With cyber threats evolving rapidly and quantum computing on the horizon, the future of identity security is complex. But for Goodman, the mission remains clear: ensuring that enterprises can operate in an increasingly digital world with confidence, agility, and resilience.
