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Vendor research

Harmonic Security

Review what this vendor says publicly, the security topics those statements may support, what remains unverified, and factual company context. This is not an assessment of product effectiveness or fit.

Use-case context

How this vendor relates to the selected use case

Related research availableBack to use case →

These links show approaches associated with this vendor. The relationship label describes how the approach maps to the use case—not product effectiveness, complete requirement coverage, or fit.

Applications and agents4 related approaches

Company scale

Emerging
?EmergingAn early-stage provider with less than $25M in known funding, or 50 or fewer employees without at least $50M in known funding.This is a company-scale signal, not a product-quality rating.

A descriptive band derived from retained public revenue, workforce, ownership, or funding signals.

Company scale is separate from product features, effectiveness, and suitability.
  • $26M known funding
  • <50 employees
  • Founded 2023

Company context

Private, VC-backed

Founded by former Digital Shadows leadership; product timeline includes Model Context Protocol (MCP) Gateway launch in 2025

Research coverageCounts describe available public research, not product quality.View details
Vendor statements
19 records
Source-checked records
14
Evaluation requirements
19 in this research model
Unresolved requirements
5

Company intelligence

Who is behind the product

Company facts provide evaluation context. Each signal is kept separate because tenure, workforce, funding, and hiring answer different questions.

Founded2023
HeadquartersSan Francisco, California; London presence
OwnershipPrivate, VC-backed
Employees<50
Capital and scaleIndependent company

Harmonic Security

Known funding
$26M

Series A · $17.5M · 2024-10-02

Operating scale
Founded by former Digital Shadows leadership; product timeline includes MCP Gateway launch in 2025
Backing context
$17.5M Series A led by Next47; more than $26M secured since launch; seed led by Ten Eleven Ventures
Named investors

Next47 · Ten Eleven Ventures

Founders and leadership2 people listed
  • Alastair Paterson

    CEO & Co-Founder

    Current role listed
  • Bryan Woolgar-O'Neil

    CTO & Co-Founder

    Current role listed
Operating signalsRead each signal separately

There is no combined company rating. The company-scale label uses stated size thresholds; product features and effectiveness require separate evidence.

Company tenure
2023
Workforce scale
<50
Hiring activity
9 open positions · active

A hiring count is shown only when a clickable source is available.

Greenhouse careers board

Core company facts have supporting public sources.

Company sources and research limits4 linked public sources

Only company facts supported by retained public sources are shown. Missing values remain unknown, and company scale does not establish product effectiveness.

Company sourceHarmonic about pageHarmonic lists its 2023 founding, seed, Series A, and MCP Gateway timeline.Company sourceHarmonic Series A announcementHarmonic announced a $17.5M Series A led by Next47 and more than $26M total secured.Company information sourceStored company websiteSupports the company facts shown in this profile.Company information sourceGreenhouse careers boardSupports the company facts shown in this profile.

Solution areas

These areas describe how the vendor approaches enterprise AI security. They do not establish product quality or fit.

AI data protectionCore product focusEndpoint AI application controlsCore product focusBrowser and extension controlsRelated coverageAction-taking agent safeguardsRelated coverageAI gateway and tool-connection controlsRelated coverageCoding-agent and developer workstation securityRelated coverage

Buyer context

  • Public claims are especially relevant to generative AI data loss prevention (DLP) and workforce AI control use cases.
  • Buyer diligence should separate browser/desktop/Model Context Protocol (MCP) coverage from broader non-human identity (NHI) lifecycle capabilities.

Related frameworks

Where public vendor statements relate to framework requirements

11 related frameworks · expand when needed
These links show related requirements for further review. They do not establish framework compliance or control implementation. Open the full framework crosswalk →
Current referenceCSA AI Controls Matrix
Requirements with public support
13
Related requirements
14
References
71
Review related requirements →
Current referenceISO/IEC 42001
Requirements with public support
13
Related requirements
12
References
35
Review related requirements →
Current referenceMITRE ATLAS
Requirements with public support
13
Related requirements
12
References
71
Review related requirements →
Current referenceNIST AI RMF Playbook
Requirements with public support
13
Related requirements
13
References
39
Review related requirements →
Current referenceNIST Cybersecurity Framework 2.0
Requirements with public support
13
Related requirements
12
References
39
Review related requirements →
Informative referenceOWASP Agentic AI Security Solutions Landscape
Requirements with public support
13
Related requirements
12
References
31
Review related requirements →
Current referenceOWASP Top 10 for Agentic Applications
Requirements with public support
13
Related requirements
13
References
31
Review related requirements →
Current referenceOWASP Top 10 for LLM Applications
Requirements with public support
13
Related requirements
13
References
25
Review related requirements →
Current referenceCIS Critical Security Controls
Requirements with public support
12
Related requirements
11
References
58
Review related requirements →
Informative referenceOWASP GenAI Security Solutions Landscape
Requirements with public support
12
Related requirements
11
References
27
Review related requirements →
Commercial Metadata
Requirements with public support
3
Related requirements
3
References
3
Review related requirements →

Evaluation questions

What to verify beyond public claims

These questions come from security requirements with some public support. Use them as starting points for demonstrations, documentation review, customer references, or a buyer-observed pilot.

  1. 01
    Unapproved AI use discovery

    An unmanaged AI app used by a test user appears in discovery inventory with user, app or domain, and timestamp.

  2. 02
    Unapproved AI use discovery

    The test user's AI usage activity can be filtered or exported with AI-specific context.

  3. 03
    AI-feature discovery in business applications

    A software as a service (SaaS) app with an embedded AI feature appears in the software as a service (SaaS) AI inventory with app, provider, and feature context.

  4. 04
    AI-feature discovery in business applications

    The inventory shows which users, data classes, integrations, or providers are associated with the AI-enabled software as a service (SaaS) app.

  5. 05
    Approved AI usage monitoring

    Approved AI workspace activity appears with user, workspace or tenant, model or provider, and timestamp.

  6. 06
    Approved AI usage monitoring

    Prompt, model, or admin activity can be exported or correlated for the selected approved AI platform.

  7. 07
    Controls for unapproved AI use

    A policy blocks, coaches, redirects, or contains a test interaction with an unapproved AI destination.

  8. 08
    Controls for unapproved AI use

    The control event records policy reason, user, destination, action, and timestamp.

Detailed security-requirement research18 evaluation items · supporting evidence and open research are shown separatelyExpand
Security requirementPublic supportRelated frameworksWhat to verify
AI-feature discovery in business applications

Inventory software as a service (SaaS) applications that embed AI features, expose enterprise data to AI capabilities, or create AI-driven data movement.

Limited public support
NIST AI RMF PlaybookNIST Cybersecurity Framework 2.0CIS Critical Security ControlsISO/IEC 42001OWASP GenAI Security Solutions Landscape

A software as a service (SaaS) app with an embedded AI feature appears in the software as a service (SaaS) AI inventory with app, provider, and feature context.

Browser and business-application controls

Apply session-level controls in browser and software as a service (SaaS) workflows, including uploads, downloads, copy/paste, sharing, and identity-aware access decisions.

Strong public support
NIST AI RMF PlaybookNIST Cybersecurity Framework 2.0CIS Critical Security ControlsISO/IEC 42001OWASP GenAI Security Solutions Landscape

A session-level policy controls upload, download, copy, paste, sharing, or form submission in a browser or software as a service (SaaS) workflow.

Generative AI application security

Protect enterprise-built large language model (LLM) applications, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) systems, prompts, application programming interfaces (APIs), model calls, tools, and production runtime behavior.

No supporting claim found
NIST AI RMF PlaybookNIST Cybersecurity Framework 2.0CIS Critical Security ControlsISO/IEC 42001OWASP GenAI Security Solutions Landscape

A test large language model (LLM) application event records prompt, application programming interface (API), model, retrieval, or tool interaction context.

AI governance, risk, and compliance

Inventory AI systems and owners, translate policy and regulatory obligations into governed workflows, assess risk, manage approvals and exceptions, and retain audit evidence across the AI lifecycle.

Limited public support
NIST AI RMF PlaybookNIST Cybersecurity Framework 2.0CIS Critical Security ControlsISO/IEC 42001OWASP GenAI Security Solutions Landscape

A test AI system is registered with owner, intended use, risk tier, lifecycle state, and applicable obligations.

AI assurance and adversarial testing

Test models, applications, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) systems, and agents before release and continuously thereafter using adversarial probes, evaluation suites, attack simulation, and security release gates.

No supporting claim found
NIST AI RMF PlaybookNIST Cybersecurity Framework 2.0CIS Critical Security ControlsISO/IEC 42001OWASP GenAI Security Solutions Landscape

A controlled test campaign exercises an AI model, application, or agent against named AI attack classes.

AI model and supply-chain security

Discover, inventory, scan, validate, and monitor models, datasets, model artifacts, registries, dependencies, and AI development assets for tampering, unsafe serialization, provenance gaps, or malicious content.

No supporting claim found
NIST AI RMF PlaybookNIST Cybersecurity Framework 2.0CIS Critical Security ControlsISO/IEC 42001OWASP GenAI Security Solutions Landscape

A test model or AI artifact appears in inventory with origin, version, hash or provenance, and deployment context.

AI gateway, tool-connection, and runtime controls

Mediate model, agent, tool, application programming interface (API), connector, and Model Context Protocol (MCP) traffic through an enforcement point that applies identity-aware policy, content controls, routing, rate limits, and auditable allow or deny decisions.

Strong public support
NIST AI RMF PlaybookNIST Cybersecurity Framework 2.0CIS Critical Security ControlsISO/IEC 42001OWASP GenAI Security Solutions Landscape

A model, agent, tool, or Model Context Protocol (MCP) request passes through a named policy enforcement point.

Non-human identity and service-account security

Inventory, least privilege, credential hygiene, monitoring, and lifecycle management for non-human identities, workloads, service accounts, application programming interface (API) keys, and machine credentials.

No supporting claim found
NIST AI RMF PlaybookNIST Cybersecurity Framework 2.0CIS Critical Security ControlsISO/IEC 42001OWASP GenAI Security Solutions Landscape

A test service account, agent identity, or non-human identity appears in inventory with owner and privileges.

AI agent identity and permissions

Register AI agents as accountable identities, bind them to owners and delegating users, authorize task- and tool-level access, issue short-lived credentials, review access, and revoke or suspend agent authority.

Limited public support
NIST AI RMF PlaybookNIST Cybersecurity Framework 2.0CIS Critical Security ControlsISO/IEC 42001OWASP GenAI Security Solutions Landscape

A test agent is registered with a unique identity, accountable owner, purpose, and permitted resources.

AI coding-agent and workstation security

Discover and govern AI coding agents, integrated development environment (IDE) assistants, command-line agents, skills, hooks, extensions, Model Context Protocol (MCP) tools, filesystem access, commands, network activity, secrets, and software-supply-chain actions on developer workstations and build environments.

Limited public support
NIST AI RMF PlaybookNIST Cybersecurity Framework 2.0CIS Critical Security ControlsISO/IEC 42001OWASP GenAI Security Solutions Landscape

A test coding agent and its skills, hooks, extensions, or Model Context Protocol (MCP) tools appear in an attributable inventory.

Licensing model

Publicly discoverable commercial model such as per user, per seat, per app, per token, per integration, or enterprise platform license.

No supporting claim found
Commercial MetadataCSA AI Controls Matrix

The vendor can map the sourced commercial model to per-user, per-seat, per-app, per-token, per-integration, or platform packaging.

Public sources

Vendor statements and quoted evidence

Showing the first 6 of 19 source records. Open additional records only when needed.

Open all vendor evidence →
AI governance, risk, and complianceSource checkedLimited public support for this requirement

Harmonic claims organization-wide AI discovery, interaction visibility, team-level intent analysis, unified policy for humans and agents, governance analytics, auditability, and real-time controls across browser, desktop, embedded, and Model Context Protocol (MCP) surfaces.

Every interaction visible. Every interaction governable.
AI assurance and adversarial testingNo supporting claim found

Harmonic platform materials reviewed did not provide a public product claim for automated adversarial testing, repeatable attack suites, model or agent red teaming, or release-gate evaluation.

No quoted source text is recorded for this claim.
AI model and supply-chain securityNo supporting claim found

Harmonic platform materials reviewed did not establish model artifact scanning, provenance, signing, dependency analysis, Model Context Protocol (MCP) component risk scoring, tamper detection, or model-registry release controls.

No quoted source text is recorded for this claim.
AI gateway, tool-connection, and runtime controlsSource checkedStrong public support for this requirement

Harmonic claims a locally installed Model Context Protocol (MCP) Gateway and endpoint controls that intercept Model Context Protocol (MCP) traffic, inspect prompt and tool interactions, block risky actions, prevent sensitive-data exfiltration, and apply intent-aware policy in under 200 milliseconds.

Transparently intercepts all MCP traffic enabling security teams to discover what clients and servers are in use, enforce granular policies to block risky actions.
AI agent identity and permissionsSource checkedLimited public support for this requirement

Harmonic claims a common policy plane for agents and humans with contextual, team-based controls over agent tool and server actions.

Agents and humans on the same policy plane.
AI coding-agent and workstation securitySource checkedLimited public support for this requirement

Harmonic claims device and Model Context Protocol (MCP) gateway controls for integrated development environment (IDE) coding assistants, local development environments, agent tool calls, source code, internal identifiers, infrastructure configuration, and sensitive-data flows.

The ability to apply policy controls at the point where the AI agent interacts with internal systems.
Show 13 additional evidence records
AI cost and usage controlsSource checkedLimited public support for this requirement

Harmonic claims organization-wide AI interaction and usage visibility that helps identify where AI drives productivity, where investments create value, and where budget is wasted.

where AI is driving productivity, where it's creating risk, and where the budget is being wasted.
Unapproved AI use discoverySource checkedStrong public support for this requirement

Harmonic claims visibility across the full AI stack across vendors, including long-tail and agentic surfaces, beyond Microsoft-only coverage.

Purview gives you visibility inside Microsoft, on Microsoft tools, with Microsoft pattern matching. Real AI usage is not Microsoft-only. We see the full stack across vendors, including the long tail and the agentic surfaces, and we govern with intent classification rather than regex.
AI-feature discovery in business applicationsSource checkedLimited public support for this requirement

Harmonic claims coverage for AI running in browser tabs, desktop apps, employee-started agents, and embedded copilots inside software as a service (SaaS) tools.

AI does not live in one place. It runs in the browser tab your sales lead opened, the desktop app your developer installed, the agent your engineer kicked off, and the embedded copilot inside the SaaS tools you already pay for. Harmonic Security covers all four.
Approved AI usage monitoringSource checkedLimited public support for this requirement

Harmonic claims it understands intent behind AI interactions across approved tools, shadow apps, and employee-created agents and governs those interactions in real time.

AI is everywhere your employees work: in approved tools, shadow apps, and the agents they're spinning up on their own. Harmonic Security sits at that layer, understands the intent behind every interaction, and governs it in real time.
Controls for unapproved AI useSource checkedStrong public support for this requirement

Harmonic claims teams can block risky AI actions in real time, warn employees with context, or log silently for review.

You can block in real time, warn the employee with context about why the action is risky, or log silently for security team review.
Sensitive-data protection for generative AISource checkedLimited public support for this requirement

Harmonic claims data classification and logging provide audit trails, data residency controls, and evidence that AI use stays within defined boundaries.

Our data classification and logging give you the audit trail, the data residency controls, and the ability to demonstrate that AI use in your organization operates within defined boundaries.
Action-taking agent monitoringSource checkedStrong public support for this requirement

Harmonic Security claims it governs AI interactions across employees and agents, including browser, desktop, agent, and Model Context Protocol (MCP) surfaces.

Every interaction visible. Every interaction governable.
Agent-to-agent communication securitySource checkedLimited public support for this requirement

Harmonic Security claims coverage for agents, skills, Model Context Protocol (MCP), and CLI workflows, including tool calls, scopes, and destructive actions.

Tool calls, scopes, destructive actions.
Non-human identity and service-account securityNo supporting claim found

No public claim found for this capability.

No quoted source text is recorded for this claim.
Browser and business-application controlsSource checkedStrong public support for this requirement

Harmonic Security claims real-time visibility and control across the browser and desktop.

Real-time visibility and control across the browser and desktop
Generative AI application securityNo supporting claim found

No public claim found for this capability.

No quoted source text is recorded for this claim.
Licensing modelNo supporting claim found

No public claim found for this capability.

No quoted source text is recorded for this claim.
Approved AI platform contextSource checkedRelated public context only

Harmonic Security claims an Model Context Protocol (MCP) gateway and shared policy plane for agents and humans, adjacent to external AI gateway deployments.

Browser extension, desktop client, and MCP gateway in one deployment