What cybersecurity company acquired Acuvity in February 2026 to bolster its platform with AI-native security?

In February 2026, the cybersecurity giant Proofpoint acquired Acuvity, a company specializing in AI enterprise security and governance, to significantly enhance its platform with AI-native security capabilities. This strategic move was driven by the rapid integration of generative AI, AI copilots, and autonomous agents into everyday business operations, creating what Proofpoint terms the "agentic workspace." As humans and AI increasingly collaborate on critical tasks, new and complex security challenges have emerged that traditional cybersecurity solutions were not designed to handle.

Acuvity's expertise lies in providing comprehensive visibility, data protection, and runtime defense across the entire AI ecosystem. This includes safeguarding against risks such as "shadow AI" (unauthorized use of AI tools), sensitive data exposure, intellectual property loss, and regulatory violations. Furthermore, Acuvity's technology directly addresses AI-specific threats like prompt injection and model manipulation, where malicious inputs can trick AI systems into revealing confidential information or behaving unexpectedly.

By integrating Acuvity's innovative security tools, Proofpoint aims to offer a unified platform that provides end-to-end protection for these evolving agentic workspaces. This means securing not only human interactions and data but also the AI agents themselves and the workflows they execute. The acquisition positions Proofpoint to help organizations confidently adopt AI technologies while maintaining robust security, compliance, and trust in an increasingly AI-driven world.