Cisco Systems Inc. will acquire Israeli cybersecurity firm Astrix Security Ltd. to enhance defenses for artificial intelligence agents. The acquisition aims to bolster security capabilities surrounding AI in production environments. Financial terms were not disclosed, but a previous report speculated the deal could be valued at approximately $300 million.
Peter Bailey, senior vice president of Cisco’s Security Business Group, announced the acquisition in a blog post. Astrix specializes in managing and securing “non-human identities,” which include machine-to-machine connections and digital credentials like API keys and OAuth tokens.
According to Bailey, Astrix’s integration will provide deep capabilities to discover and secure AI agents, which are increasingly utilized in modern systems. “The addition of Astrix Security brings deep capability to discover and secure every AI agent and non-human identity (NHI),” Bailey stated. He emphasized the need for organizations to adopt AI securely and at scale, especially given the risks associated with excessive privileges and real-time threats.
Astrix’s software offers companies the ability to create and maintain a real-time inventory of AI agents and NHIs within their environments. This capability enables security teams to analyze the associated risks effectively. Cisco plans to merge these functionalities with its Cisco Identity Intelligence platform to enhance identity visibility within its security ecosystem.
The integration will extend to Cisco’s zero-trust offerings, including Cisco Secure Access and Duo. “Customers will be able to discover, authenticate, and authorize agentic identities,” Bailey added. Additionally, the enhanced visibility will facilitate a unified view of agent activity within existing security information and event management (SIEM) systems.
Astrix will provide specific tools for governing AI agents, managing their access and lifecycle, and detecting threats. Cisco highlighted a pressing need to improve agentic security, citing findings from its AI Readiness Index. Only 24% of businesses currently possess proper controls for AI agents, while just 31% feel fully capable of securing their deployments.
Astrix co-founders Alon Jackson and Idan Gour noted that AI agents significantly outnumber human users, creating security blind spots. “Joining Cisco means Astrix now has the scale, the reach and the platform to bring agentic and NHI security to organizations worldwide,” they stated.
This acquisition follows Cisco’s previous purchase of Galileo Technologies Inc., which aims to improve visibility and governance in AI agent security. The company also introduced new tools at the RSAC 2026 Conference, including Duo IAM for managing access to business applications and the open-source tool DefenseClaw for vulnerability scanning.
