Cisco announced its intent to acquire Astrix Security, a cybersecurity company focused on non-human identity security and AI agent governance. Financial terms of the proposed transaction were not disclosed.
Cisco said the acquisition is designed to strengthen its security capabilities as enterprises increasingly deploy AI agents and automated systems across business operations.
The company noted that AI agents are creating a rapidly expanding attack surface as organizations adopt agentic AI systems capable of accessing data, making decisions, and executing actions autonomously.
According to Cisco’s AI Readiness Index, only 24% of organizations currently have sufficient controls and monitoring guardrails for AI agents, while just 31% believe they are fully capable of securing their AI systems.
Founded five years ago, Astrix Security focuses on securing non-human identities including API keys, service accounts, OAuth tokens, and AI agent credentials.
Cisco said Astrix Security’s technology provides capabilities including AI agent discovery and governance, lifecycle management, threat detection and response, and centralized secrets management.
Following the acquisition, Cisco plans to integrate Astrix Security’s capabilities into Cisco Identity Intelligence and extend support across Cisco Secure Access and Duo Identity and Access Management offerings.
Cisco said the acquisition also supports its broader AI security strategy, which includes AI Defense, Zero Trust Access architecture, Splunk security automation, and infrastructure-level AI observability initiatives.
The company stated that Astrix Security’s technology will help organizations discover, authenticate, authorize, and monitor AI agents and non-human identities across enterprise systems while enabling faster threat detection and response.
KEY QUOTES:
“Today, I’m thrilled to announce our intent to acquire Astrix Security Ltd., a pioneer in Non-Human Identity (NHI) Security.”
“We’re seeing an explosion of AI agents that are already reshaping the digital enterprise.”
“Soon, every person in an organization will be supported by a network of AI agents working continuously at machine speed, accessing data, making decisions, and taking action on their behalf.”
“These agents represent an entirely new class of coworker: capable of incredible productivity, but also capable of unintended harm or malicious behavior if left unsecured.”
“This is the new attack surface, and it is growing faster than most organizations realize.”
Peter Bailey, Cisco
