A hack at Okta could have major
consequences because thousands of other companies rely on the San
Francisco-based firm to manage access to their own networks and applications.
The company was aware of the reports and
was investigating, Okta official Chris Hollis said in a brief statement.
"We will provide updates as more
information becomes available," he added.
The screenshots were posted by a group of
ransom-seeking hackers known as Lapsus$ on their Telegram channel late on
Monday. In an accompanying message, the group said its focus was "ONLY on
Okta customers."
Security experts told Reuters the
screenshots appeared to be authentic.
"I definitely do believe it is
credible," said independent security researcher Bill Demirkapi, citing
pictures of what appeared to be Okta's internal tickets and its in-house chat
on the Slack messaging app.
Dan Tentler, the founder of cybersecurity
consultancy Phobos Group, said he too believed the breach was real and urged
Okta customers to be "very vigilant right now."
In an email, Tentler added, "There are
timestamps and dates visible in the screenshots indicating January 21st of this
year, which suggests they may have had access for two months." © Reuters