Okta wants to help your business ditch passwords forever

The days of worrying about remembering passwords for your work devices may soon be at an end thanks to Okta.

The security firm has announced a new service that will allow companies to do away with passwords altogether.

Revealed today at the company's Oktane 2018 event in Las Vegas, Okta ThreatInsight combines context-specific information and real-time analysis to offer a more secure way to log in - without needing to remember passwords.

No more passwords

"Everyone knows passwords aren't a great solution....you need a complete picture", Okta CEO Todd McKinnon said at Oktane 18, "We're able to eliminate passwords completely." 

Due to be released in the second half of 2018, Okta, which counts the likes of Nordstrom and 20th Century Fox among its customers, says the new tool will allow companies to do away with passwords as their main authentication option.

Instead, the platform can detect possible security risks by analysing information such as the location of an IP address attempting to access a corporate network. The platform can also identify known devices, and if they are attempting to connect from an unfamiliar location, can block access.

“The best password is no password at all," McKinnon added. "Today’s threat actors are targeting the weakest point of your company’s security – your people – and too many are successfully compromising employee accounts due to poor or stolen passwords." 

Mike Moore
Deputy Editor, TechRadar Pro

Mike Moore is Deputy Editor at TechRadar Pro. He has worked as a B2B and B2C tech journalist for nearly a decade, including at one of the UK's leading national newspapers and fellow Future title ITProPortal, and when he's not keeping track of all the latest enterprise and workplace trends, can most likely be found watching, following or taking part in some kind of sport.

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