AI Governance & Security Vendor Wiki

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Astrix Security

Primary category: non-human-identity. Acquired by cisco — deal closed 2026-06-29; standalone new-license sales ended 2026-06-30.

One-liner — Non-human identity (NHI) security: discover, govern and protect the API keys, service accounts, OAuth tokens and AI-agent credentials that machines and agents use to access enterprise systems.

What it does — Inventories every non-human identity and its connections across SaaS, cloud and internal systems, then scores risk (over-privileged, stale, leaked, or anomalous credentials), enforces least-privilege and lifecycle policy, and detects/responds to NHI-based threats. As agentic AI proliferates, Astrix extends this to AI agents — an “AI Agent Control Plane” governing what credentials agents hold and how they’re used. The job it does: stop the sprawl of machine credentials from becoming an unmonitored attack surface.

Where it sits in the stack — non-human-identity at the foundation layer, with an ai-spm angle (governing agent identities is part of AI security posture). Its risk role: controls access to sensitive data (least-privilege on machine credentials) and constrains outbound data flows/lateral movement by reining in over-scoped tokens. Adjacent to identity-access (human IdP) and tool-identity-integration (agent→SaaS auth).

Deployment & architecture — SaaS, integrating via API/OAuth connectors into SaaS apps, cloud providers, IdPs and secrets stores to map NHIs without agents on every box. Post-close, Cisco plans to fold capabilities into Cisco Identity Intelligence, extended across Cisco Secure Access and Duo Identity and Access Management, with agent telemetry feeding splunk for SOC detection/response. As of 2026-07-27 no named Cisco product page has absorbed Astrix yet — astrix.security remains the authoritative page, so the integration is announced but not yet shipped under a Cisco SKU.

Positioning & differentiators — One of the early, well-funded NHI pure-plays, which leaned hard into the agentic-identity narrative before being acquired. Differentiated on breadth of integrations and the agent-control-plane framing. No longer a buying unit: standalone new-license sales ended 2026-06-30, so for new buyers this is a Cisco roadmap item, not a shortlist entry. Nearest neighbors: token-security, aembit, oasis-security, entro-security, clutch-security, natoma, and the NHI capabilities inside cyberark.

Ownership, funding & M&A

Contradiction (soft): seed frontmatter said ownership: acquired by Cisco, which was premature when first checked (2026-06-28: intent announced, deal pending). Status: Resolved 2026-07-27 — the deal has since closed and the seed’s “acquired” is now correct.

Astrix was founded 2021 (Israeli-founded; HQ now listed as Boston, MA with Tel Aviv R&D) by Alon Jackson (CEO) and Idan Gour (CTO). It raised $85M+, including a $45M Series B led by Menlo Ventures. Cisco announced intent to acquire Astrix on 2026-05-04 and completed the acquisition on 2026-06-29 — confirmed by a dated update note Cisco added to the top of its own announcement blog: “June 29, 2026 Update: We have completed the acquisition of Astrix Security. Welcome to Cisco!” Financial terms were never officially disclosed; press (Calcalist/Ctech) reports ~$400M, with earlier talks reported at up to $350M — treat the figure as unofficial.

Standalone sales have ended. The astrix.security site is still live under Astrix branding but carries a banner stating Astrix “is now part of Cisco” and that Astrix ended standalone sales of new licenses effective 2026-06-30. Existing customers keep service and support under their current agreements while capabilities are integrated into Cisco over time. The brand and domain are not retired — they now function as a transition landing page rather than a shopping destination.

CTO / hedge-fund lens

NHI governance is generally Day-2 for a fund — you stand up human IdP/SSO and secrets management first — but it climbs the list fast once you deploy AI agents that hold their own credentials. Astrix’s value is visibility into machine/agent identities you didn’t know existed.

As of 2026-07-27 that value is no longer separately purchasable: new-license sales stopped 2026-06-30. Practical implications:

  • New buyers can’t buy Astrix. If you want this capability from Cisco, the question is when it lands in Identity Intelligence / Secure Access / Duo — unannounced as of this date. In the meantime, evaluate the remaining NHI pure-plays (token-security, aembit, oasis-security, clutch-security, natoma) or cyberark’s NHI module. Note the pure-play field is consolidating fast, so weight acquirer risk when shortlisting.
  • Existing Astrix customers are contractually fine near-term (support continues per current agreements) but should ask Cisco for a written migration path and pricing before renewal — post-acquisition repackaging into a Cisco bundle is the usual outcome and rarely renews at the standalone price.
  • Cisco/Duo/Splunk shops get the best of this: the capability arrives inside a stack you already own, at the cost of waiting for it.

Competitors / alternatives

token-security, aembit, oasis-security, entro-security, clutch-security, natoma, cyberark.

Open questions / to verify

  • Deal close — resolved 2026-07-27: closed 2026-06-29. Final terms remain undisclosed (press ~$400M, unofficial).
  • Cisco product landing: which named Cisco SKU absorbs Astrix, and when. Cisco has stated Identity Intelligence / Secure Access / Duo / Splunk as targets but shipped nothing branded as of 2026-07-27. Re-check.
  • Brand/domain fate: whether astrix.security eventually 301s to Cisco (the Aim/Cato and Normalyze/Proofpoint pattern) or persists.
  • Exact founding date; renewal pricing for existing customers under Cisco.

Sources

History

  • [2026-06-28] Stub created from seed registry.
  • [2026-06-28] Researched; verified Cisco announced INTENT to acquire Astrix 2026-05-04 — deal PENDING, not closed. Corrected the seed’s flat “acquired” to intent/pending (soft contradiction flagged). Founded 2021, founders Jackson & Gour, $85M+ raised. ownership_confidence medium pending close.
  • [2026-07-27] Deal closed. Cisco added a dated update to its 2026-05-04 announcement blog: “June 29, 2026 Update: We have completed the acquisition of Astrix Security.” ownership_state acquired-pending → acquired-closed, acquisition.closed → 2026-06-29, verify_after cleared. Price still undisclosed (press ~$400M, unofficial) so price stays null.
  • [2026-07-27] Standalone sales ended 2026-06-30. astrix.security still resolves live under Astrix branding but banners “Astrix Security is now part of Cisco” and states standalone new-license sales ended 2026-06-30; existing customers supported per current agreements. website kept as https://astrix.security — no Cisco product page has absorbed the capability yet, so this remains the authoritative page. Brand/domain not retired (contrast Aim/Cato, Normalyze/Proofpoint). Soft contradiction from 2026-06-28 marked resolved.

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