Forcepoint & BeyondTrust link identity risk to data

Forcepoint and BeyondTrust have launched an integration that links Forcepoint's data discovery and classification tools with BeyondTrust Identity Security Insights. The integration is available now.

It connects identity risk alerts with information about the sensitive data an account can access. The goal is to help security teams remove access for a single risky human, machine or AI identity without shutting down broader systems or disrupting other users.

Under the arrangement, BeyondTrust flags identities based on behaviour, privilege, compromised credentials and related connections. Forcepoint then identifies the sensitive records those identities can reach and gives customers controls to block access to the specific data involved.

This is intended to reduce the manual work required when security teams move between separate systems to determine whether an alert involves a low-risk test account or an identity with access to more sensitive information.

Joining the dots

A key feature of the integration is the combination of BeyondTrust's view of entitlements and privilege paths with Forcepoint's ranking of identities by the value of the data they can access. This gives customers a way to prioritise incidents based on both identity risk and data exposure.

BeyondTrust said its system maps the routes an identity can take to gain privilege rather than relying only on stated permissions. Forcepoint then applies data classification to show which confidential records sit within reach of those paths, including personal information, financial records and trade secrets.

The companies are also targeting service accounts and AI agents, an area of growing concern for security teams. They cited Cloud Security Alliance research saying machine and AI identities outnumber human users by 144 to one.

That imbalance has made it harder to monitor non-human accounts, many of which retain permissions long after they are needed. In that context, the integration is meant to let customers revoke a service account or AI agent's access to sensitive data while allowing the account to continue carrying out its other tasks.

Bakshi Kohli, Chief Technology Officer at Forcepoint, said the rise of AI agents inside companies had changed how organisations need to respond to identity risk.

"With AI agents now doing real work inside the business, blocking autonomous tools isn't an option, and neither is guessing," Kohli said.

"When BeyondTrust tells us an identity looks risky, we already know what data it can get to. Teams can take that one identity's access away and nothing more. That's the precision agentic enterprises ask for today," he said.

Operational focus

Customers will be able to work from a Forcepoint dashboard that ranks risky identities by the value of accessible data and shows why each identity was flagged. The aim is to shorten investigation times and help security teams focus first on the most serious exposures.

For businesses, the approach reflects a broader shift in cyber security spending toward tools that tie technical alerts to business impact. Identity threats are often numerous, but the practical risk depends on which systems and data sit behind the account in question.

Security vendors have been trying to bridge that gap as customers face rising alert volumes and growing complexity across cloud services, internal applications and automated software agents. The challenge is becoming more urgent as businesses deploy AI systems that may need broad access to internal data to operate effectively.

BeyondTrust framed the partnership as a way to combine identity and privilege intelligence with visibility into sensitive information, rather than requiring customers to investigate each area separately.

"The strongest technology alliances bring together complementary capabilities to solve problems neither side should have to solve in isolation," said David Manks, Vice President of Global Strategic Alliances at BeyondTrust.

"Forcepoint's understanding of sensitive data and BeyondTrust's identity and privilege intelligence provide two critical dimensions of risk. Bringing them together helps customers see where risky access creates meaningful exposure and take precise action to protect what matters," Manks said.