Okta authorization: How to improve security & scalability

Cerbos is an open-source, decoupled access control solution that enables fast and reliable fine-grained access control. Okta is an enterprise-grade identity management service capable of linking all your devices, apps and logins in a unified way. With Okta, every programme and app you use to perform your job is instantly available.

In a nutshell Okta can connect any individual with any app on any contemporary digital device. While it is built for the cloud it is also compatible with a wide array of on-premises platforms and applications. 

Some might be tempted to think that Okta is everything it can be just the way it is, but they would be mistaken. 

Cerbos enables you to extend Okta roles, meet your compliance obligations, simplify and bolster the audit process while enabling easy access to myriad digital resources. Cerbos/Okta authorization also enables users to avoid bloated tokens and renders moot the need for workarounds.

Benefits of integrating Cerbos with Okta

Integrating Okta and Cerbos can produce a variety of benefits especially when it comes to access and identity management. Those benefits include:

Greater access control

Cerbos is well-known for its ability to provide fine-grained access control, enabling users to define and institute access rules based on a variety of attributes related to the various components of an access event: namely users, resources and context.

Okta is known for allowing users simple and effective control over user attributes which helps ensure the right access is granted to the right people. By combining Cerbos and Okta RBAC the user is able to devise and enforce very precise access control.

Single sign-on (SSO) and user authentication

Okta's robust SSO capabilities make it possible for users to log in only once to gain access to multiple applications. When you integrate Okta with Cerbos you are able to enforce more broad-based access policies that leverage authenticated user identities provided by Okta. 

This additional level of authorization control helps ensure only those with proper Okta authorization can gain access to sensitive information.

Greater flexibility

Okta provides a centralized platform from which to manage the activities of individual users and groups. By integrating Cerbos you can leverage the identity information available through Okta to create dynamic access control policies that adapt easily to changing user roles, resource attributes or contextual changes.

Enhanced security

The multi-factor authentication and other features offered by Okta enable a high-degree of security over user accounts. But when you combine Okta with Cerbos you can take Okta’s native security measures to another level by more precisely controlling what actions a user can perform.

Scalability

Whether you operate on-premises or in the cloud Okta and Cerbos are both designed to scale with your organization as it grows. That said, both take a cloud-based approach which makes integrating one with the other a straightforward process.

Simple customization

Okta RBAC enables you to customize user authentication and identity management. Cerbos enables simple customization of your access control policies. Taken together they enable a more finely tuned user experience tailored to the individual, their role and their needs.

Dynamic authorization

Cerbos provides dynamic as well as context-aware authorization that can greatly extend Okta functionality. By integrating Cerbos with Okta, additional contextual information regarding users becomes available that produces a more granular level of adaptive access than what is possible with Okta alone.

Enhanced compliance

While Okta has its own menu of compliance reporting features, integrating Cerbos greatly enhances compliance while increasing your ability to effectively audit access to resources. Compliance issues will become a thing of the past with Cerbos + Okta authorization.

Real-time user lifecycle management

Okta does a great job facilitating the automation of user provisioning and de-provisioning, but when paired with Cerbos user lifecycle management becomes an effortless, real-time endeavour. Cerbos enables you to change user roles or permissions from a central location and then apply them dynamically throughout Okta in real-time ensuring that a user’s roles and permissions remain aligned with their current status.

Ease of administration

Cerbos’ dynamic authorization capabilities when combined with Okta’s user-friendly admin interface greatly simplify the administration of user identities and permissions. The two create a symbiotic relationship that enables the result to become greater than the sum of its parts, much to the benefit of Okta users everywhere.

Outstanding support

Cerbos is an open source access control solution and as such comes with a large and knowledgeable community ready to lend support. You’re never at a loss when you choose to augment Okta authorization with Cerbos.

Conclusion

By integrating Cerbos with Okta authorization you are able to bolster Okta’s native capabilities and achieve a higher level of convenience, compliance and security. Integrate Cerbos today and experience first-hand the peace of mind that’s made possible by knowing your cloud-based digital assets are protected.