Micah Silverman
All Posts by Micah Silverman
Use Kong Gateway to Centralize Authentication
A customer once asked me: “Hey – Can Okta integrate with Kong?” Spoiler alert: You totally can integrate Kong with Okta using its OpenID Connect plugin. Still stuck wondering what an API gateway even is? Here’s a metaphor that works for me: You know that sci-fi movie trope in which you have a centralized hub that “jumps” you to other places in the galaxy? In that kind of system all the screening and security happens...
Introducing the Okta CLI
Okta is an Identity Management Platform that takes all the hassle out of authentication and authorization. It’s feature-packed with everything from workforce integrations for G-Suite to the latest version of OAuth 2.0 as-a-service for developers writing their own APIs. It can sometimes be a daunting task for developers to get started with Okta because of how feature-rich it is. Introducing the Okta CLI - made by developers for developers. Using the CLI tool, you can...
Test in Production with Spring Security and Feature Flags
Note: In May 2025, the Okta Integrator Free Plan replaced Okta Developer Edition Accounts, and the Okta CLI was deprecated. We preserved this post for reference, but the instructions no longer work exactly as written. Replace the Okta CLI commands by manually configuring Okta following the instructions in our Developer Documentation. Okta is an Identity and Access Management platform. The TL;DR: you offload the responsibility for secure authentication and authorization to Okta so you can...
Announcing the New Okta Developer Certification
Over the past few months, I have been working on a side project that I am really excited about. If you know me well, you probably know I enjoy using my side projects to help other teams meet their goals (and if you don’t, I am a Senior Security H@X0R at Okta. Check out my blog posts here.) So, when the Okta certification team asked me to help them build a cool developer certification experience,...
Use PKCE with OAuth 2.0 and Spring Boot for Better Security
Browser and mobile feature enhancements move fast. Often times, these technologies move faster than security standards designed to protect them can keep up. OAuth 2.0 offers the best and most mature standard for modern applications. However, there hasn’t been an official release of this standard since 2012. Eight years is a very long time in Internet technology years! That doesn’t mean that its contributors have been sitting idly by. There is active work on the...
Use Okta Token Hooks to Supercharge OpenID Connect
Note: In May 2025, the Okta Integrator Free Plan replaced Okta Developer Edition Accounts, and the Okta CLI was deprecated. We preserved this post for reference, but the instructions no longer work exactly as written. Replace the Okta CLI commands by manually configuring Okta following the instructions in our Developer Documentation. OpenID Connect (OIDC) and OAuth 2.0 are already recognized as powerful tools for incorporating authentication and authorization into modern web applications. Okta has enhanced...
Implement the OAuth 2.0 Authorization Code with PKCE Flow
Note: In May 2025, the Okta Integrator Free Plan replaced Okta Developer Edition Accounts, and the Okta CLI was deprecated. We preserved this post for reference, but the instructions no longer work exactly as written. Replace the Okta CLI commands by manually configuring Okta following the instructions in our Developer Documentation. Imagine two levers that are inversely connected. That is, as one goes up, the other goes down. One lever is User Experience and the...
Use Vue.js Data Binding Options for Reactive Applications
Note: In May 2025, the Okta Integrator Free Plan replaced Okta Developer Edition Accounts, and the Okta CLI was deprecated. We preserved this post for reference, but the instructions no longer work exactly as written. Replace the Okta CLI commands by manually configuring Okta following the instructions in our Developer Documentation. Vue.js is known as a “progressive framework for building user interfaces”. There’s a lot to unpack in this simple statement. It’s easy to get...
Easy Single Sign-On with Spring Boot and OAuth 2.0
Note: In May 2025, the Okta Integrator Free Plan replaced Okta Developer Edition Accounts, and the Okta CLI was deprecated. We preserved this post for reference, but the instructions no longer work exactly as written. Replace the Okta CLI commands by manually configuring Okta following the instructions in our Developer Documentation. Single sign-on used to be the “Holy Grail” of enterprise size companies and was usually only available companies that could afford it. Nowadays, we...
Migrate Your Spring Boot App to the Latest and Greatest Spring Security and OAuth 2.0
Note: In May 2025, the Okta Integrator Free Plan replaced Okta Developer Edition Accounts, and the Okta CLI was deprecated. We preserved this post for reference, but the instructions no longer work exactly as written. Replace the Okta CLI commands by manually configuring Okta following the instructions in our Developer Documentation. Spring Boot 1.5.x made it easier than ever before to integrate Spring Security with OAuth 2.0 into your application. Spring Boot 2.1.x dials it...
Welcome Micah Silverman
My name is Micah Silverman and I just joined the Developer Advocacy team at Okta. TL;DR - There are some easter eggs in this post. If you want to know what they’re all about - jump to the bottom. Funny thing is, I’ve been working for Okta for 2 years now, just on different teams. It was in the Sales Engineering and Education Services teams that I learned all the ins and outs of the...
OAuth 2.0 for Native and Mobile Apps
Note: In May 2025, the Okta Integrator Free Plan replaced Okta Developer Edition Accounts, and the Okta CLI was deprecated. We preserved this post for reference, but the instructions no longer work exactly as written. Replace the Okta CLI commands by manually configuring Okta following the instructions in our Developer Documentation. These days, when you hear someone talking about OAuth, it is likely they mean OAuth 2.0. Previous versions of the standard are deprecated. OAuth...
Build a One-time Password Token for MFA with Okta
Note: In May 2025, the Okta Integrator Free Plan replaced Okta Developer Edition Accounts, and the Okta CLI was deprecated. We preserved this post for reference, but the instructions no longer work exactly as written. Replace the Okta CLI commands by manually configuring Okta following the instructions in our Developer Documentation. Okta has a great multi-factor authentication (MFA) service that you can use right away with a free developer account. It provides additional security by...
Use Multi-factor Authentication from the Command Line
Note: In May 2025, the Okta Integrator Free Plan replaced Okta Developer Edition Accounts, and the Okta CLI was deprecated. We preserved this post for reference, but the instructions no longer work exactly as written. Replace the Okta CLI commands by manually configuring Okta following the instructions in our Developer Documentation. Multi-factor authentication is an important tool in your security arsenal. If your password is compromised, your account can still be protected by using high...
Multi-Factor Authentication: 4 Challenges Faced by Developers
Note: In May 2025, the Okta Integrator Free Plan replaced Okta Developer Edition Accounts, and the Okta CLI was deprecated. We preserved this post for reference, but the instructions no longer work exactly as written. Replace the Okta CLI commands by manually configuring Okta following the instructions in our Developer Documentation. Multi-factor authentication (MFA) is the most reliable way to ensure the security of your users’ PII (personally identifiable information), and with Okta it’s easier...
Set Up and Enforce Multi-Factor Authentication with the Okta API
So, you’re building a custom app and you need to include support for multi-factor authentication (MFA). Did you know that Okta’s API can support multi-step MFA workflows? The diagram below shows the primary authentication flows with MFA enrollment and enforcement enabled. Okta has a push-based verification app called Okta Verify. It’s available on the Google Play and Apple App stores. Okta Verify is similar to Google Authenticator, except it adds the additional feature of supporting...
Use Kong Gateway to Centralize Authentication
NOTE: The video and code in this post has just been updated for 2021! A customer once asked me: “Hey – Can Okta integrate with Kong?” My first thought was: “What’s Kong?” A Google result later, I was introduced to the Kong API Gateway – an open-source API Gateway and Microservices management layer. Spoiler alert: You totally can integrate Kong with Okta using its OpenID Connect plugin. Still stuck wondering what an API gateway even...
Play Zork, Learn OAuth
Note: In May 2025, the Okta Integrator Free Plan replaced Okta Developer Edition Accounts, and the Okta CLI was deprecated. We preserved this post for reference, but the instructions no longer work exactly as written. Replace the Okta CLI commands by manually configuring Okta following the instructions in our Developer Documentation. In the early ’80s, some of the best “video” games were text-based adventures. These games would print out descriptive text of your surroundings and...
Add Role-Based Access Control to Your App with Spring Security and Thymeleaf
Note: In May 2025, the Okta Integrator Free Plan replaced Okta Developer Edition Accounts, and the Okta CLI was deprecated. We preserved this post for reference, but the instructions no longer work exactly as written. Replace the Okta CLI commands by manually configuring Okta following the instructions in our Developer Documentation. User management functions are required by a wide variety of apps and APIs, and it’s a common use-case to partition access to parts of...
What's in a Token? – An OpenID Connect Primer, Part 3 of 3
In the previous two installments of this OpenID Connect (OIDC) series, we dug deep into the OIDC flow types and saw OIDC in action using a playground found at: https://okta-oidc-fun.herokuapp.com/. In this third and final installment, we’ll look at what’s encoded into the various types of tokens and how to control what gets put in them. JWTs, have the benefit of being able to carry information in them. With this information available to your app...
OIDC in Action – An OpenID Connect Primer, Part 2 of 3
In the first installment of this OpenID Connect (OIDC) series, we looked at some OIDC basics, its history, and the various flow types, scopes, and tokens involved. In this post, we’ll dive into the mechanics of OIDC and see the various flows in action. The token(s) you get back from an OIDC flow and the contents of the /userinfo endpoint are a function of the flow type and scopes requested. You can see this live...
Identity, Claims, & Tokens – An OpenID Connect Primer, Part 1 of 3
In the beginning, there were proprietary approaches to working with external identity providers for authentication and authorization. Then came SAML (Security Assertion Markup Language) – an open standard using XML as its message exchange type. Then, there was OAuth and OAuth 2.0 – also open as well as being a modern, RESTful approach to authorization using JSON as its medium. And now, the holy grail of “secure delegated access” OpenID Connect (henceforth OIDC), which runs...