Okta - Enterprise Identity and Access Management

Comprehensive analysis of Okta identity platform and its role as the authentication foundation for Cursor deployments.

Table of contents

  1. Overview
    1. Vendor Information
  2. Core Capabilities
    1. 1. Single Sign-On (SSO)
    2. 2. Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)
    3. 3. Lifecycle Management
    4. 4. Adaptive Authentication
  3. Architecture & Integration
    1. Okta as Identity Hub
    2. Okta Universal Directory
  4. Key Features for Cursor Security
    1. 1. Cursor IDE Integration
    2. 2. Conditional Access Policies
    3. 3. Session Management
  5. Integration with Other Tools
    1. Okta + Azure Entra ID (Azure AD)
    2. Okta + CrowdStrike
    3. Okta + Wiz
  6. Pricing Model
    1. Licensing Tiers
  7. Strengths & Weaknesses
    1. Strengths ✅
    2. Weaknesses ⚠️
  8. Best Practices for Okta with Cursor
    1. 1. Group-Based Access Control
    2. 2. Implement Least Privilege
    3. 3. Monitor and Alert
    4. 4. Regular Access Reviews
  9. Okta + Cursor Integration Example
    1. Complete Setup
  10. Resources & Links
    1. Learning Resources
  11. Conclusion

Overview

Okta is a cloud-native identity and access management (IAM) platform that provides single sign-on (SSO), multi-factor authentication (MFA), lifecycle management, and API access management for enterprises.

Vendor Information

   
Company Okta, Inc.
Founded 2009
Headquarters San Francisco, CA
Founders Todd McKinnon (CEO), Frederic Kerrest
Website https://www.okta.com
Status Public (NASDAQ: OKTA)
Notable Leader in Gartner Magic Quadrant for Access Management

Core Capabilities

1. Single Sign-On (SSO)

Universal SSO Platform:

  • 7,000+ pre-built integrations
  • SAML 2.0, OpenID Connect, WS-Federation support
  • Custom app integrations via APIs
  • Seamless user experience across all applications

For Cursor Environment:

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Okta SSO Integration:
├── Cursor IDE (OIDC)
├── Azure Portal (SAML federation with Entra ID)
├── Wiz (SAML)
├── CrowdStrike Falcon (SAML)
├── Veracode (SAML)
├── LaunchDarkly (SAML)
├── GitHub (SAML)
└── AWS Console (SAML)

Result:
✅ One password for all applications
✅ Centralized access management
✅ Reduced password reset tickets
✅ Improved security (no password reuse)

2. Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)

Adaptive MFA:

  • Multiple factors: Push notifications, SMS, voice, email, hardware tokens, biometrics
  • Risk-based authentication
  • Passwordless authentication options
  • Integration with device trust

MFA Factors Available:

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Strong Factors:
├── Okta Verify (push notifications)
├── WebAuthn (hardware keys like YubiKey)
├── FIDO2 tokens
├── Biometrics (TouchID, FaceID)
└── Okta FastPass (passwordless)

Medium Factors:
├── SMS
├── Voice call
└── Email

Weak Factors:
├── Security questions (not recommended)
└── TOTP apps (Google Authenticator, Authy)

For Developers:

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# Okta MFA policy for Cursor users
policy:
  name: "Cursor-Developer-MFA"
  conditions:
    - resource: "Cursor IDE"
    - user_group: "Engineering"
  requirements:
    - any_2_factors: true
    - allowed_factors:
        - "okta_verify_push"
        - "webauthn"
        - "fido2"
    - deny_factors:
        - "sms"  # Not secure enough for dev access
        - "security_questions"
  adaptive:
    - condition: "new_device"
      action: "require_2fa"
    - condition: "new_location"
      action: "require_2fa"
    - condition: "risky_ip"
      action: "deny"

3. Lifecycle Management

Automated User Provisioning:

  • SCIM-based provisioning to applications
  • Integration with HR systems (Workday, BambooHR)
  • Automated onboarding/offboarding
  • Group-based access control

Developer Onboarding Flow:

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Day 1:
├── HR system creates user (Workday)
│   ↓
├── Okta receives user via API/SCIM
│   ↓
├── Okta creates user account
│   ↓
├── Okta assigns to "Engineering" group
│   ↓
├── Okta auto-provisions to applications:
│   ├── Azure AD (SCIM)
│   ├── GitHub (SCIM)
│   ├── Cursor Enterprise (OIDC)
│   ├── Wiz (SAML)
│   └── Slack (SCIM)
│   ↓
├── Okta sends welcome email
│   ↓
└── User sets up MFA

Result: Fully provisioned in 15 minutes vs. 3 days manually

Offboarding Flow:

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Employee Termination:
├── HR marks terminated in Workday
│   ↓
├── Okta receives termination event
│   ↓
├── Okta immediately:
│   ├── Suspends user account
│   ├── Revokes all active sessions
│   ├── De-provisions from all apps
│   └── Notifies security team
│   ↓
└── User locked out within 5 minutes

Security Benefit: No orphaned accounts

4. Adaptive Authentication

Risk-Based Access Control:

  • Device posture analysis
  • Network context (IP reputation)
  • User behavior analytics
  • Anomaly detection

Example Policy:

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// Okta Adaptive MFA policy
if (user.location.country != "United States") {
  require("step_up_mfa");
}

if (device.trusted == false) {
  require("step_up_mfa");
}

if (user.risk_score > 80) {
  deny_access();
  alert_security_team();
}

if (application == "Azure Portal" && user.group == "Admin") {
  require("webauthn");  // Hardware key required for admins
}

if (time.is_business_hours() == false && application.sensitivity == "high") {
  require("manager_approval");
}

Architecture & Integration

Okta as Identity Hub 

graph TB
    subgraph "Identity Sources"
        A[Active Directory]
        B[Azure AD]
        C[HR System - Workday]
        D[LDAP]
    end
    
    subgraph "Okta Platform"
        E[Universal Directory]
        F[SSO Engine]
        G[MFA Engine]
        H[Lifecycle Engine]
        I[API Access Management]
    end
    
    subgraph "Applications"
        J[Cursor IDE]
        K[Azure Portal]
        L[GitHub]
        M[Wiz]
        N[CrowdStrike]
        O[Custom Apps]
    end
    
    subgraph "Devices"
        P[Laptops]
        Q[Mobile Devices]
        R[Tablets]
    end
    
    A --> E
    B --> E
    C --> E
    D --> E
    
    E --> F
    E --> G
    E --> H
    E --> I
    
    F --> J
    F --> K
    F --> L
    F --> M
    F --> N
    F --> O
    
    G --> P
    G --> Q
    G --> R
    
    style E fill:#00a6ed,stroke:#0086bd,color:#fff
    style F fill:#7c3aed,stroke:#5b21b6,color:#fff
    style J fill:#dc2626,stroke:#991b1b,color:#fff

Okta Universal Directory

Centralized User Store:

  • Master user database
  • Custom attributes per application
  • Group management
  • Profile mastering (choose authoritative source)

Example User Profile:

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{
  "id": "00u1a2b3c4d5e6f7g8h9",
  "status": "ACTIVE",
  "profile": {
    "firstName": "John",
    "lastName": "Developer",
    "email": "john.developer@company.com",
    "login": "john.developer@company.com",
    "mobilePhone": "+1-555-123-4567",
    "department": "Engineering",
    "manager": "jane.manager@company.com",
    "employeeNumber": "EMP-12345",
    "costCenter": "ENG-001",
    "customAttributes": {
      "cursorLicenseType": "Enterprise",
      "azureSubscriptionId": "xxxx-xxxx-xxxx",
      "githubUsername": "jdeveloper",
      "securityClearance": "Confidential"
    }
  },
  "credentials": {
    "password": {},
    "provider": {
      "type": "OKTA",
      "name": "OKTA"
    }
  },
  "groups": [
    "Engineering",
    "Cursor-Users",
    "Azure-Contributors",
    "GitHub-Developers"
  ]
}

Key Features for Cursor Security

1. Cursor IDE Integration

OIDC Configuration:

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# Cursor IDE SSO Configuration
okta_integration:
  client_id: "0oa1b2c3d4e5f6g7h8i9"
  client_secret: "${OKTA_CLIENT_SECRET}"
  issuer: "https://company.okta.com/oauth2/default"
  scopes:
    - "openid"
    - "profile"
    - "email"
    - "groups"
  redirect_uri: "https://cursor.com/auth/callback"
  
  # Token settings
  access_token_lifetime: 3600  # 1 hour
  refresh_token_lifetime: 86400  # 24 hours
  
  # Claims mapping
  claims:
    - name: "email"
      value: "user.email"
    - name: "groups"
      value: "user.groups"
    - name: "department"
      value: "user.department"

Login Flow:

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1. User opens Cursor IDE
   ↓
2. Cursor redirects to Okta (OIDC)
   ↓
3. User enters credentials
   ↓
4. Okta evaluates adaptive auth policy
   ↓
5. If risky: Require MFA
   ↓
6. Okta validates MFA
   ↓
7. Okta issues ID token + access token
   ↓
8. Cursor validates token
   ↓
9. User authenticated in Cursor
   ↓
10. Cursor requests Azure OpenAI API key (using Okta token)

2. Conditional Access Policies

Example Policies:

Policy 1: Block risky sign-ins

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policy_name: "Block-Risky-Signin"
conditions:
  - user_risk_level: "high"
  - or:
      - ip_reputation: "malicious"
      - impossible_travel: true
      - anonymous_proxy: true
action: "deny"
notification: "security-team@company.com"

Policy 2: Require hardware key for admin access

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policy_name: "Admin-Hardware-Key-Required"
conditions:
  - user_group: "Admins"
  - application_name: ["Azure Portal", "Cursor Enterprise Admin", "AWS Console"]
action: "require_factor"
required_factor: "webauthn"
fallback_denied: true

Policy 3: Step-up authentication for sensitive actions

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policy_name: "Step-Up-For-Secrets"
conditions:
  - application: "Azure Key Vault"
  - or:
      - action: "read_secret"
      - action: "write_secret"
action: "require_reauthentication"
max_session_age: 900  # 15 minutes

3. Session Management

Session Policies:

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# Cursor Developer Session Policy
session_policy:
  max_session_lifetime: 43200  # 12 hours
  max_idle_time: 3600  # 1 hour
  
  # Prompt for MFA again after
  mfa_lifetime: 28800  # 8 hours
  
  # Require re-auth for sensitive apps
  sensitive_apps:
    - "Azure Key Vault": 900  # 15 min
    - "AWS Console": 3600  # 1 hour
    - "Production Database": 1800  # 30 min

Session Hijacking Prevention:

  • Device fingerprinting
  • IP address consistency checking
  • User-agent validation
  • Token binding

Integration with Other Tools

Okta + Azure Entra ID (Azure AD)

Federation Setup:

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Okta ←→ Azure AD (SAML Federation)

Flow:
1. User authenticates to Okta
2. Okta acts as IdP for Azure AD
3. User gets Azure AD token
4. User accesses Azure resources with SSO

Benefits:
✅ Single password (Okta)
✅ Okta MFA for Azure resources
✅ Centralized lifecycle management
✅ Okta Adaptive Auth for Azure

Configuration:

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# Azure AD Enterprise Application for Okta
az ad sp create --id 0000002-0000-0000-c000-000000000000

# Configure SAML
# Identifier (Entity ID): https://company.okta.com
# Reply URL: https://login.microsoftonline.com/login/slo
# Sign on URL: https://login.microsoftonline.com/{tenant-id}/saml2

Okta + CrowdStrike

User Context Enrichment:

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# CrowdStrike gets user context from Okta

# When CrowdStrike detects suspicious activity:
crowdstrike_alert = {
    "hostname": "LAPTOP-DEV-042",
    "local_user": "john.developer",
    "process": "suspicious.exe"
}

# Enrich with Okta data
okta_user = okta.get_user_by_email("john.developer@company.com")

enriched_alert = {
    **crowdstrike_alert,
    "user_full_name": okta_user.full_name,
    "department": okta_user.department,
    "manager": okta_user.manager,
    "risk_score": okta_user.risk_score,
    "last_login": okta_user.last_login,
    "account_status": okta_user.status
}

# Now security team has full context

Okta + Wiz

Identity Correlation:

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Wiz Cloud Asset + Okta User = Complete Picture

Example:
Wiz finds: "Azure VM with public IP has critical vulnerability"
Wiz identifies: "VM owned by john.developer@company.com"
Okta provides:
  - Full name: John Developer
  - Manager: Jane Manager
  - Department: Engineering
  - Last login: 2 hours ago
  - Risk score: 35/100 (low risk)
  
Automated remediation:
1. Create ticket assigned to John Developer
2. CC manager (Jane Manager)
3. Set priority based on Okta risk score
4. If user inactive >30 days: Auto-remediate

Pricing Model

Licensing Tiers

Workforce Identity Cloud:

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Okta Workforce Identity:
├── Free: Up to 15 monthly active users
│   └── Limited features
│
├── Single Sign-On: $2-5/user/month
│   ├── Unlimited apps
│   ├── SAML, OIDC, WS-Fed
│   └── Basic reporting
│
├── Multi-Factor Authentication: +$3-6/user/month
│   ├── All MFA factors
│   ├── Adaptive MFA
│   └── Device Trust
│
├── Lifecycle Management: +$4-8/user/month
│   ├── SCIM provisioning
│   ├── HR integrations
│   └── Workflows automation
│
├── Universal Directory: +$2-4/user/month
│   ├── Custom attributes
│   ├── Profile mastering
│   └── Advanced groups
│
└── Advanced Server Access: +$15-25/user/month
    ├── SSH/RDP gateway
    ├── Just-in-time access
    └── Session recording

Example Cost (50 developers, full stack):

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Base: SSO + MFA + Lifecycle + UD
50 users × $15/user/month = $750/month
Annual: $9,000

ROI:
├── Reduced help desk tickets: $30K/year saved
├── Faster onboarding: $20K/year saved
├── Improved security: Priceless
└── Net Benefit: ~$40K/year saved

Strengths & Weaknesses

Strengths ✅

  1. Ease of Use: Intuitive interface for admins and users
  2. Integration Breadth: 7,000+ pre-built app integrations
  3. Reliability: 99.99% uptime SLA
  4. Security: Industry-leading adaptive authentication
  5. API-First: Comprehensive REST APIs for automation
  6. Compliance: SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA, FedRAMP

Weaknesses ⚠️

  1. Cost: Can get expensive at scale
  2. Complexity: Advanced features have learning curve
  3. On-Prem Integration: Works best with cloud apps
  4. Reporting: Could be more comprehensive
  5. Customer Support: Variable quality

Best Practices for Okta with Cursor

1. Group-Based Access Control 

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# Organize users into logical groups
groups:
  - name: "Cursor-Users-Free"
    description: "Developers with free Cursor"
    applications:
      - "Cursor Free"
      - "GitHub"
      
  - name: "Cursor-Users-Enterprise"
    description: "Developers with Cursor Enterprise"
    applications:
      - "Cursor Enterprise"
      - "Azure Portal"
      - "GitHub"
      - "Wiz"
    policies:
      - "MFA-Required"
      - "Device-Trust-Required"
      
  - name: "Cursor-Admins"
    description: "Cursor administrators"
    applications:
      - "Cursor Admin Console"
      - "Okta Admin"
    policies:
      - "Hardware-Key-Required"
      - "IP-Restriction"

2. Implement Least Privilege 

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# Grant only necessary access
def assign_user_apps(user):
    # Base apps for everyone
    apps = ["Email", "Slack", "Internal Wiki"]
    
    # Add apps based on department
    if user.department == "Engineering":
        apps += ["Cursor IDE", "GitHub", "Azure Portal"]
        
    if user.title.contains("Senior"):
        apps += ["Wiz", "CrowdStrike Admin"]
        
    # Add apps based on explicit approval only
    if user.has_approval_for("Production Database"):
        apps += ["Prod DB Console"]
        
    return apps

3. Monitor and Alert 

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# Okta System Log API for security monitoring
alerts:
  - event: "user.session.start"
    condition: "location.country != 'US'"
    action: "alert_security_team"
    
  - event: "user.authentication.failed"
    condition: "count > 5 in 10 minutes"
    action: "suspend_user"
    
  - event: "user.account.privilege.grant"
    condition: "any"
    action: "alert_security_team"

4. Regular Access Reviews 

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# Quarterly access review script
#!/bin/bash

# Export all user-app assignments
okta users list-app-links --all > user_apps.json

# Identify inactive users
okta users list --filter 'status eq "ACTIVE" and lastLogin lt "2024-07-01"' > inactive_users.json

# Send to managers for review
python send_access_review.py \
  --users user_apps.json \
  --inactive inactive_users.json \
  --recipients managers@company.com

Okta + Cursor Integration Example

Complete Setup

Step 1: Create Okta App

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# Via Okta Admin Console
1. Applications → Create App Integration
2. Sign-in method: OIDC - OpenID Connect
3. Application type: Web Application
4. App name: "Cursor IDE Enterprise"
5. Grant type: Authorization Code, Refresh Token
6. Sign-in redirect URIs: https://cursor.com/auth/callback
7. Sign-out redirect URIs: https://cursor.com/auth/logout
8. Assignments: Group - "Cursor-Users-Enterprise"

Step 2: Configure Cursor

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// Cursor Enterprise Admin Console
{
  "sso": {
    "enabled": true,
    "provider": "okta",
    "config": {
      "issuer": "https://company.okta.com/oauth2/default",
      "clientId": "0oa1b2c3d4e5f6g7h8i9",
      "clientSecret": "${OKTA_CLIENT_SECRET}",
      "scopes": ["openid", "profile", "email", "groups"]
    }
  },
  "mfa": {
    "enforced": true,
    "providers": ["okta_verify"]
  }
}

Step 3: Test

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# Test SSO flow
curl -X GET "https://cursor.com/auth/login" \
  -H "Accept: application/json"

# Should redirect to:
# https://company.okta.com/oauth2/v1/authorize?client_id=...

Resources & Links

Learning Resources

Conclusion

For Cursor Security Architecture:

Okta provides the identity foundation for the entire security stack. As the central authentication and authorization platform, it enables SSO, MFA, and lifecycle management across all tools including Cursor, Azure, Wiz, CrowdStrike, and more.

Key Value Props for Cursor:

  1. ✅ Single sign-on across all development tools
  2. ✅ Strong MFA with adaptive authentication
  3. ✅ Automated user provisioning and deprovisioning
  4. ✅ Centralized access management
  5. ✅ Rich integration ecosystem

Recommendation: Essential foundational tool for any enterprise Cursor deployment.

Last Updated: October 10, 2025
Review Status: Production Validated