Proofpoint’s 4 New Innovations to Secure the Future of Work
▼ Summary
– Proofpoint announced four innovations to secure the “agentic workspace,” where AI agents and people collaborate, addressing new risks from this AI-driven shift in work.
– The new capabilities protect AI assistants from targeted email attacks, such as malicious prompt injections, by blocking exploits before they reach users.
– Proofpoint Data Security Complete helps organizations locate, classify, and control access to sensitive data across channels, integrating data security functions into one solution.
– Proofpoint Secure Agent Gateway, built using Model Context Protocol (MCP), controls and monitors AI agent data access to enforce policies and prevent unauthorized data sharing.
– Proofpoint Satori Agents automate security tasks like handling alerts, while Satori MCP Access enables these agents to collaborate with other platforms’ AI agents to improve security operations.
The rapid integration of artificial intelligence into daily business operations is creating a new environment known as the agentic workspace, where human employees and AI agents collaborate directly. This shift introduces a unique set of security challenges that demand a fresh approach to protection. Proofpoint has unveiled four key innovations specifically engineered to secure this new frontier of work, ensuring that both people and the AI systems they work with can operate safely and effectively.
This evolution mirrors the digital transformation that defined the previous decade, but with an accelerated pace that expands the potential attack surface dramatically. AI assistants, designed to behave in human-like ways by clicking, sharing, and acting on information, are now susceptible to many of the same threats people face. They can be tricked through social engineering, manipulated via malicious prompts, or become conduits for data leaks. Protecting these non-human collaborators requires an extension of human-centric security principles.
According to Proofpoint CEO Sumit Dhawan, “The agentic workspace is here and one of the most profound shifts in terms of how work gets done. Protecting it is the next evolution of human-centric security, extending beyond people to safeguard AI agents and the points where they collaborate and share data.”
A primary vulnerability involves email, where attackers are now embedding malicious prompts aimed at manipulating popular AI assistants like Microsoft Copilot and Google Gemini. These attacks, known as prompt injections, can feed harmful information to users or even exfiltrate sensitive data. Proofpoint’s new technologies, delivered through its Prime Threat Protection solution, are designed to detect and block these exploits before they ever reach an inbox, building a foundation of trust for every interaction.
As data becomes the central asset in the AI age, controlling its flow is paramount. Proofpoint Data Security Complete is a new solution that allows organizations to locate, classify, and control access to sensitive information across all channels, including email, endpoints, the web, and cloud applications. It features Autonomous Custom Classifiers for highly accurate data classification with minimal human effort and creates a consolidated data risk map for easy visualization of threats. The platform integrates data security posture management (DSPM), data loss prevention (DLP), and insider threat management into a single console. A companion offering, Proofpoint AI Data Governance, helps organizations discover both approved and unapproved AI usage, apply policies to prevent data leaks, and manage access through automated workflows.
Recognizing that AI agents now handle sensitive information, Proofpoint is introducing the Proofpoint Secure Agent Gateway. Built using the Model Context Protocol (MCP), this gateway controls how AI agents access data, monitors their activity, and enforces usage policies. It can block or redact sensitive data before it is shared with a human or another agent. This gateway works in tandem with Data Security Complete to provide a unified security layer for both people and machines.
Finally, Proofpoint is deploying its own AI agents to automate security tasks. Proofpoint Satori Agents operate within the Proofpoint platform to handle data loss prevention alerts, recommend phishing simulations, and resolve user-reported email threats. This automation helps security teams scale their operations and reduce alert fatigue. Furthermore, with Proofpoint Satori MCP Access, external agents from platforms like CrowdStrike and Microsoft can invoke Proofpoint’s Satori Agents to collaborate on security tasks, creating a connected ecosystem that accelerates response times and improves overall security outcomes.
Ryan Kalember, Proofpoint’s chief strategy officer, summarized the vision: “By uniting collaboration and data security, we are redefining how organizations secure work. Proofpoint is the first to deliver a solution that enables organizations to find where their data is, understand what it is, and protect what both people and agents do with it.” This integrated approach aims to give businesses the confidence to fully embrace the productivity benefits of AI without compromising on security.
(Source: HelpNet Security)
