Overview
- Cisco announced Monday it intends to buy Astrix Security to tackle risks from non-human identities used by AI agents, such as API keys, service accounts, and OAuth tokens.
- The company plans to add Astrix features to Cisco Identity Intelligence with extensions to Secure Access and Duo for tighter controls on agent access, with telemetry feeding into Splunk.
- Astrix software maps agent activity, enforces governance policies, manages agent access from setup to removal, detects compromised credentials or out-of-scope actions, and centralizes secrets management.
- Cisco did not disclose terms for the deal, though Calcalist reported a roughly $400 million price, and the companies described product and personnel integration as still in progress.
- Cisco cited its AI Readiness Index showing only 24% of organizations can monitor and guardrail agent actions and 31% feel fully capable of securing agent AI systems as new models heighten attack risks.