Palo Alto Networks is in talks to buy Israeli cybersecurity company Clutch Security for about $500 million, The Information reported, as relayed by Globes and Geektime. Clutch, founded three years ago, develops software that helps organizations track the passwords and authentication codes used by AI agents, so-called non-human identities.
According to the report, the company has raised more than $20 million to date, from investors including Lightspeed and SignalFire. If signed, it would be the fifth acquisition Palo Alto has announced this year, following its purchase of Israel's CyberArk earlier this year for about $25 billion. CyberArk specializes in managing the identities and privileges of an organization's users, while Clutch focuses on the identities of agents.
The deal would join a series of acquisitions in AI agent identity security: Workday bought C1.ai last month, Okta acquired Permiso Security in August, and SailPoint acquired Entro Security in June. Unlike chatbots, agents take actions inside enterprise systems, so mechanisms are needed to identify them, monitor their activity and restrict their access to data.
Palo Alto told The Information that it does not comment on rumors, and Clutch declined to comment. It is not yet known whether the deal will be signed or on what final terms.
