Blog

Guides, vendor analysis, and data security industry news.58 posts.

October 16, 2026News
Proofpoint to Acquire Varonis for $6.3 Billion in Largest Cybersecurity Deal of 2026
Proofpoint has signed a $6.3B all-cash deal to acquire Varonis, paying a 52% premium over pre-rumor pricing. The merger fuses human-risk telemetry with identity-and-access data graphs, reshaping the DSPM/DLP competitive landscape for 2027.
October 14, 2026News
Harmonic Security Raises $50M Series B to Scale Workforce AI Data Governance
Harmonic Security closed a $50M Series B led by Crosspoint Capital, bringing total funding to $76M, to expand real-time classification and control of employee generative AI use across browsers, desktop tools, and agentic workflows.
October 8, 2026News
Rein Security raises $25M Series A to guard AI agents at runtime
Rein Security closed a $25M Series A, co-led by Glilot Capital and Sienna Venture Capital, bringing total funding to $35M. Its sidecar runtime technology enforces data-sensitivity-aware guardrails on AI agents as they execute actions.
September 29, 2026News
Reco Raises $55M, Backed by AT&T Ventures, to Expand Agent-Identity and Data-Access Governance
Reco's latest $55M round, with a strategic check from AT&T Ventures — a former customer — pushes total funding to $140M as the company builds out mapping of agent identities, permissions, and data access across 280+ SaaS and AI integrations.
September 24, 2026News
Island Raises $400M Series F, Valuation Hits $6.4B as Enterprise Browser Pushes Deeper into DLP
Island's enterprise browser platform raised a $400M Series F led by Evolution Equity Partners, more than doubling its 2024 valuation to $6.4B. The company is explicitly framing its roadmap as browser-to-DLP-to-SASE consolidation.
September 22, 2026News
Cyera Adds $400M Series G Extension, Pushing Valuation Past $12B
Cyera closed a $400M Series G extension backed by Goldman Sachs, pushing its valuation above $12B just months after its last raise—signaling near-continuous fundraising mode as it rolls up browser control and AI/agent governance startups.
September 21, 2026News
BigID Launches AgentIQ to Let Agents Execute Data Security and Privacy Remediation, Not Just Flag It
BigID's new AgentIQ layer ships four pre-built agents — remediation, AI governance enforcement, access exposure analysis, and privacy operations — operable from Claude, Copilot, GPT, or Gemini, pushing DSPM from dashboards toward autonomous, approval-gated remediation.
September 18, 2026News
MIND Raises $72M Series B for AI-Native DLP
MIND, led by ex-Hexadite CEO, closed a $72M Series B led by Crosspoint Capital to build out AI-agent triage on top of content-and-context data classification, betting VC dollars on solving DLP's alert-fatigue problem.
September 11, 2026News
Kiteworks Acquires Bonfy.AI to Bring Runtime, Agent-Aware Data Classification to Its Platform
Kiteworks has acquired Israeli startup Bonfy.AI, adding real-time data classification and policy enforcement across email, file sharing, SaaS apps, and AI agent traffic — a tuck-in that pushes Kiteworks toward runtime, agent-aware DLP.
September 9, 2026News
SecureSky Acquires Soveren, Bolting Real-Time DSPM onto Its Exposure Management Platform
SecureSky's acquisition of Soveren pairs at-rest data classification with eBPF-based network detection of sensitive data in motion, signaling that runtime/DDR-style visibility is becoming the next DSPM battleground for exposure-management and MDR vendors.
September 3, 2026News
Report: Thoma Bravo's Proofpoint in Talks to Acquire Varonis in Major Data Security Consolidation
Bloomberg reports Thoma Bravo-backed Proofpoint is negotiating to acquire Varonis Systems, a deal that would combine two major data security platforms and reshape the competitive landscape for DLP, DSPM, and insider-risk vendors.
August 27, 2026News
Abnormal AI Pushes Behavioral Detection into Email DLP Territory
Abnormal AI is extending its behavioral-AI email security platform with native DLP Rules, a new Control Center, and phishing-coach upgrades — a direct challenge to policy-based outbound email DLP from Proofpoint, Mimecast, and Microsoft Purview.
August 8, 2026News
Black Hat USA 2026: The Data Security Roundup
Our full roundup of Black Hat USA 2026 for DLP and DSPM practitioners — every data-security launch worth knowing, the funding that landed during the show, and the agent research that should change how you scope controls.
August 4, 2026News
Obsidian Security Raises $85M Series D at $1.1B Valuation, Doubling Down on AI Agent Governance
Obsidian Security closed an $85M Series D at a $1.1B valuation to govern AI agents like Copilot Studio and Claude inside SaaS environments, part of a broader wave of agent-identity governance funding alongside Zenity and Onyx Security.
July 28, 2026News
Hush Security Raises $30M Series A to Govern AI Agent Identities, With Akamai Investing
Hush Security closed a $30M Series A with Akamai joining as a strategic investor, betting that AI agents need real identity governance — enrollment, scoped just-in-time permissions, and a kill switch — rather than the long-lived API keys most enterprises hand them today.
July 23, 2026News
Cyberhaven Extends Data Security Platform into ChatGPT Enterprise and Claude via Compliance APIs
Cyberhaven added compliance-API integrations with ChatGPT Enterprise and Claude Enterprise, extending discovery, classification, and incident response into the AI apps themselves — a DSPM-style posture layer for GenAI workspaces rather than just runtime controls.
July 22, 2026News
Glow Exits Stealth With $180M, Betting Endpoint Control Beats Data Inspection in the AI Era
Glow left stealth on July 22 with a $180M Series A at a $1.2B valuation, pitching AI-agent endpoint control against the shadow-AI problem. It's adjacent to endpoint DLP, not a replacement — the mechanism is software allowlisting, not data-movement inspection.
July 20, 2026News
Neo Emerges From Stealth With $100M to Control and Secure Enterprise Agentic AI
Neo Security left stealth with $100M — a $75M a16z/Bessemer-led Series A on top of a $25M seed — to build a real-time control layer for agentic software, inventorying AI agents and enforcing policy before autonomous activity exposes enterprise data.
July 15, 2026News
Teleskope Brings Native DSPM Discovery and In-Place Remediation to Slack
Teleskope launched Teleskope for Slack on the Slack App Marketplace, extending its agentic data security platform to discover, classify, and remediate sensitive data across Slack messages, files, canvases, and lists — live and historical — on Enterprise Grid.
July 14, 2026News
Fortinet adds native DLP and AI data controls to FortiEndpoint
Fortinet is expanding its FortiEndpoint platform with native DLP aimed at AI interactions, alongside AI visibility, endpoint risk scoring, and adaptive zero-trust access. The capabilities are slated for Q3 2026 availability, so treat them as roadmap for now.
July 8, 2026News
First Recon AI Launches 'AI Security Runtime' to Block Sensitive Data Before It Reaches AI Models
First Recon AI has taken its AI Security Runtime to GA, pairing an inline policy engine that inspects every AI interaction with a Windows/macOS endpoint agent that blocks sensitive data from leaving managed devices en route to sanctioned or third-party AI tools.
July 6, 2026News
Cyera in Advanced Talks to Acquire Oasis Security for ~$1B
Globes reports DSPM leader Cyera is in advanced talks to buy non-human identity firm Oasis Security in an all-Israeli deal that could exceed $1B, signaling a push from data posture toward identity governance for the AI-agent era.
July 2, 2026News
iboss Launches AI Security Platform for Shadow-AI Visibility and GenAI Data Controls
iboss rolled out a free-tier AI Security Platform that inventories and risk-classifies GenAI tools across endpoints, attributing prompt history to users. The DLP substance sits behind a paid upgrade that enforces AI policy and prevents leaks on the same engine.
June 30, 2026News
Straiker Raises $64M Series A to Secure the Agentic Workforce
Straiker landed a $64M Series A to discover AI agents, test them adversarially, and block threats at runtime. The data-security hook: as autonomous agents reach into sensitive stores, "who and what can touch what data" becomes a problem your DSPM and DLP stack doesn't yet watch.
June 23, 2026News
Varonis Weighs Sale After Private-Equity Takeover Interest from Blackstone, Thoma Bravo and Vista
Varonis is reportedly exploring strategic options including a possible sale after preliminary interest from Blackstone, Thoma Bravo and Vista Equity Partners. A take-private would ripple into DSPM and insider-risk shortlists where it competes with Cyera, Sentra and Microsoft Purview.
June 16, 2026News
Ent Emerges From Stealth With $100 Million Seed for Intent-Aware Workspace Security
Ent emerged from stealth with a $100 million seed round led by Decibel to build an intent-aware workspace security platform: a lightweight endpoint agent that uses on-device AI to read human and AI-agent intent and intervene before data-loss or insider-risk incidents occur.
June 8, 2026News
Cisco Acquires Astrix Security for AI Agent Identity Controls
Cisco completed its acquisition of Astrix Security, an Israeli non-human identity security startup, in a deal Calcalist reports at roughly $400 million as agent credentials become a new data-access risk.
June 3, 2026News
Microsoft Purview Adds Runtime DLP for AI Agent Prompts in Foundry
Microsoft is adding Purview controls that inspect, block, and audit sensitive data in AI agent prompts before model processing, extending familiar DLP workflows into Foundry-built apps and agents.
June 2, 2026News
Archestra Raises $10M Seed for AI Agent Data-Access Guardrails
Archestra raised a $10 million seed round led by 20VC for its open-source layer that brokers AI-agent access to sensitive enterprise data, adding policy checks, audit trails, and guardrails against exfiltration.
June 2, 2026News
Cyera Raises $300 Million at $12 Billion Valuation
Calcalist reports that Cyera raised $300 million at a $12 billion valuation, only five months after its $400 million Series F. The round reinforces investor appetite for DSPM, DLP, and AI data-security platforms.
May 28, 2026News
Geordie Raises $30 Million Series A for AI Agent Security and Governance
Geordie raised a $30 million Series A led by Balderton Capital to expand its AI agent security platform, which gives security teams visibility into agent access, behavior, and runtime risk.
May 27, 2026News
KnowBe4 Adds DLP Rule Builder and Misdirected Content Analysis to Prevent
KnowBe4 announced two Prevent features for outbound email security: a DLP rule builder for custom blocking policies and AI-powered misdirected content analysis that warns users before sensitive data goes to the wrong recipient.
May 21, 2026News
Cyera acquires Genie Security in an estimated $50 million deal
Calcalist reports that Cyera acquired five-month-old Israeli startup Genie Security for an estimated $50 million, adding endpoint-based DLP technology that monitors sensitive data movement and GenAI tool usage.
May 21, 2026News
Zscaler to Acquire Symmetry Systems, Adding Access Graph Technology for AI Agent Security
Zscaler announced intent to acquire Symmetry Systems, whose access graph maps identity-to-data relationships across the enterprise. The deal targets governance of autonomous AI agent communication at scale…
May 21, 2026Guide
How to Deploy Endpoint DLP: A Practitioner's Guide
A phase-by-phase playbook for deploying Endpoint DLP — planning, piloting in monitor mode, ring rollout, moving from monitor to enforce, and steady-state operations.
May 17, 2026Guide
DLP Solutions Directory: 2026 Vendor Landscape
A factual directory of the major data loss prevention vendors, sourced from vendor documentation and independent analyst reports.
May 16, 2026News
HYCU Launches aiR, Using Backup Data for Data Security and AI Governance
HYCU has launched aiR, a platform that uses backup data as the source for sensitive data discovery, insider risk detection, identity posture management, and AI agent governance. HYCU’s positioning is that backup…
April 27, 2026News
Varonis Launches Atlas for AI Security and Data Value
Varonis unveiled Atlas — pitched as an integrated AI security component atop its Data Security Platform — spanning AI inventory discovery, proactive testing, leakage prevention…
March 24, 2026News
Cyera Expands AI Security With Browser Shield, Data Lineage, and Cyera MCP
Cyera announced Browser Shield for AI, automated sensitive-data lineage tuned for agent workflows, and Cyera MCP — a bridge for organizations building custom data-security agents…
March 23, 2026News
Above Security Raises $50 Million for Agentic Insider Risk Management
Above Security exited stealth with $50 million led by Ballistic Ventures, Merlin Ventures, and Norwest Venture Partners. The AI-native insider-risk platform emphasizes autonomous investigators…
March 11, 2026News
Google Completes $32 Billion Acquisition of Wiz
Google closed its approximately $32 billion all-cash acquisition of cloud security vendor Wiz on March 11, 2026 — marking Google's largest acquisition to date. Wiz will continue…
February 3, 2026News
Orion Security Raises $32 Million Series A for Autonomous Data Loss Prevention
Orion Security announced a $32 million Series A led by Norwest Venture Partners with participation from IBM and existing backers — roughly nine months after a $6 million seed…
January 27, 2026News
Cyera Raises $400M to Meet Rapidly Growing Demand for AI Security Among Enterprises
Cyera, the industry’s leading AI and data security company, has announced a $400 million Series F funding round led by Blackstone. This latest raise brings Cyera’s total funding to over $1.7 billion and triples the…
December 10, 2025News
Bedrock Data Raises $25M Series A to Accelerate AI-Native Data Security Platform
Bedrock Data, a fast-rising provider in the data security posture management (DSPM) space, has announced a $25 million Series A funding round led by Greylock Partners, with participation from Mangusta Capital, Mantis…
November 11, 2025News
Teleskope Raises $25M to Bring Human-Level Intelligence to Data Security
Teleskope, a company pioneering “agentic” data security for the AI era, has raised $25 million in Series A funding led by M13, with continued backing from Primary Venture Partners and Lerer Hippeau, bringing its total…
October 16, 2025News
Veeam Reportedly Nears $1.8B Acquisition of DSPM vendor Securiti AI
Data protection giant Veeam is reportedly in advanced talks to acquire AI security and data security posture management firm Securiti for $1.8 billion, according to Bloomberg. The move would mark Veeam’s largest…
July 29, 2025Guide
The Hard Truth About DLP: Why Endpoint Agents Are Essential
Why agentless DLP solutions leave critical blind spots, and why building a proper endpoint agent takes years of deep OS integration work.
July 2, 2025News
Concentric AI Acquires Data Security Technologies Swift Security and Acante
Concentric AI has announced the acquisition of two AI-driven security startups, Swift Security and Acante, to enhance its data security governance platform. This strategic move aims to unify data security posture…
April 29, 2025News
Sentra Closes $50 Million Series B Amid Surging Demand for Securing Data for AI Adoption
Sentra, a leader in cloud-native data security, has raised $50 million in a Series B round led by Key1 Capital, pushing its total funding beyond $100 million. Following over 300% year-over-year growth and the addition…
April 26, 2025News
Cyberhaven Raises $100 Million Series D at $1 Billion Valuation
Cyberhaven, a leader in AI-powered data security, has raised $100 million in Series D funding, led by StepStone Group with participation from Schroders and Industry Ventures, bringing its total funding to $250 million…
February 15, 2025Guide
What Is Data Loss Prevention (DLP)? The Complete Guide
Learn what data loss prevention (DLP) is, how DLP tools work, the three types of DLP, and how to test your DLP solution. A practitioner's guide to protecting sensitive data.
November 22, 2024News
CloudRise, a premier Data Security consulting services company, announced acquisition by Exclusive Networks
Exclusive Networks, a global cybersecurity leader, has acquired Cloudrise, a provider of Managed Services (MS) and Professional Services (PS) specializing in Security Access Service Edge (SASE), Data Security Posture…
November 21, 2024News
Cyera is announcing a massive round of funding and is now a clear leader in the DSPM field, at least from a funding standpoint.
Cyera announced a $300 million Series D round. This latest investment is led by Accel and Sapphire Ventures, with additional participation from Sequoia, Redpoint, Coatue, and Georgian. The new funding brings Cyera’s…
October 31, 2024News
A new stealth DLP vendor emerges – MIND
MIND™, a data loss prevention (DLP) startup, has emerged from stealth, announcing its AI-driven platform designed to protect sensitive data. Backed by $11 million in seed funding from YL Ventures and other…
October 29, 2024News
Proofpoint to acquire Normalyze AI, another DSPM acquisition
Proofpoint announced its intent to acquire Normalyze, a Data Security Posture Management (DSPM) pioneer, in a deal set to close in November 2024. This acquisition aims to enhance Proofpoint’s human-centric security…
October 24, 2024News
Concentric AI Secures $45M Financing in Series B Round
Concentric AI, a data security posture management (DSPM) product, has raised $45 million in a Series B funding round, bringing its total funding to over $67 million. The round was led by Top Tier Capital Partners and…
October 18, 2024News
Cyera is acquiring Trail Security
The news yesterday that Cyera is acquiring Trail Security appears to be a big market shake-up since we now have a $3B unicorn in Data Security. https://lnkd.in/gSHSp7QG As a practitioner in the space, I am challenged…
October 17, 2024Guide
The data protection platform race is on
“An analysis of the converging DSPM, endpoint DLP, and network security markets — who will build the next $1B data protection platform?”