Cisco eyes $350 million acquisition of Astrix

American network technology giant Cisco is in advanced talks to acquire Astrix Security, an Israeli cybersecurity startup, in a deal valued at between $250 million and $350 million, roughly ₹2,100 crore to ₹2,950 crore, according to a report by The Information published on Saturday.

The potential acquisition signals growing urgency among large technology companies to address security risks posed by artificial intelligence agents operating inside corporate systems. As organisations rapidly adopt AI tools with broad permissions to access internal data and external services, traditional cybersecurity approaches have struggled to keep pace.

Astrix, founded in 2021, has built its platform around what it says as a critical blind spot in modern cybersecurity. The company focuses on ‘non-human identities’, a term for software agents, automated processes and AI-driven tools that operate without direct human control but require access to sensitive systems and data.

What Astrix does
The startup’s technology gives enterprises visibility into these automated actors and detects excessive or potentially malicious access before breaches occur. Its platform enables companies to connect third-party and in-house applications securely while monitoring permissions granted to machine identities.

Alon Jackson and Idan Gour, both former members of Unit 8200, the Israeli military‘s elite signals intelligence unit, founded the company. Unit 8200 has produced founders of several prominent cybersecurity firms including Check Point, Palo Alto Networks and Wiz.

The company’s approach addresses a specific vulnerability. AI agents are often granted broad permissions to interact with multiple systems, creating potential entry points for supply chain attacks and data leaks that conventional identity management tools were not designed to prevent.

Funding and growth
Astrix announced a $45 million Series B funding round in December 2024, bringing its total funding to $85 million. Menlo Ventures led the round through its Anthology Fund, a partnership with the artificial intelligence company Anthropic.

Other investors included Workday Ventures, Bessemer Venture Partners, CRV and F2 Venture Capital. At the time of the funding announcement, the company said its revenue had increased fivefold over the previous year while its workforce tripled to around 80 employees.

Its customer base includes global enterprises such as Workday, NetApp, Priceline and Figma.

AI security demand
Jackson said at the time of the Series B that organisations are eager to embed AI across their operations but lack the tools to manage it securely. “Many organisations want to integrate AI into every aspect of their work, but they need robust security,” he said. “Our platform ensures that AI agents are not only effective but also secure and properly managed.”

The company had positioned itself for long-term independence in what it viewed as a highly competitive market. “We didn’t raise this round to sell the company within a year or two,’ Jackson said then. “We’re building a company that can lead in a highly competitive market.”

The Information reported that negotiations are ongoing and a deal is not yet finalised. Cisco has not publicly commented on the talks. If completed, the acquisition would add AI-focused security capabilities to Cisco’s existing cybersecurity portfolio. Techobserver