F5 and Forcepoint have announced a strategic partnership to enhance AI data security across its entire lifecycle—from initial data discovery to ongoing runtime protection and assurance.
As businesses rapidly integrate AI into various operational areas, existing security measures are often inadequate to address the pace and complexity of AI deployment. Enterprises are encountering difficulties in tracking sensitive data, understanding its flow through AI systems, and managing risks associated with AI in production.
Collaborative approach to AI security
The alliance leverages Forcepoint’s AI-native Data Security Posture Management (DSPM) capabilities for data discovery and classification, alongside F5's red teaming and AI guardrails within its Application Delivery and Security Platform (ADSP). This comprehensive strategy aims to provide enhanced runtime protections for AI-driven applications, APIs, and models, allowing organisations to operationalise AI with control over sensitive data.
The combined technologies enable security teams to promptly address data vulnerabilities
The combined technologies enable security teams to promptly address data vulnerabilities, prioritise AI-related risks, enforce runtime controls, and monitor for any misuse or unusual behaviours. Continuous telemetry and policy validation ensure AI operations adhere to enterprise security governance standards.
Integrating data intelligence and application security
According to John Maddison, Chief Marketing Officer at F5, the integration of Forcepoint's data intelligence with F5's advanced security features closes operational security gaps in AI initiatives. "As AI's threat landscape broadens, our partnership equips enterprises with the proactive tools needed to manage AI securely throughout its lifecycle," Maddison stated.
Naveen Palavalli, Chief Product and Marketing Officer at Forcepoint, highlighted the transformative impact of AI on data security, emphasising the importance of an adaptive protection standard that extends throughout the lifecycle, including the runtime phase of AI systems.
Addressing AI security challenges
F5 fortifies AI systems at runtime by enforcing stringent policies and using adversarial testing
With AI adoption, organisations must discern which data can be safely accessed, determine the riskiest use cases, and enforce policies effectively post-deployment. The collaboration between F5 and Forcepoint addresses these concerns by linking data comprehension with runtime enforcement.
Forcepoint facilitates the discovery, classification, and governance of vital data across various environments, leveraging AI to identify data suitable for AI processes and projects requiring strict oversight. Concurrently, F5 fortifies AI systems at runtime by enforcing stringent policies and using adversarial testing to protect against threats such as data exfiltration and model manipulation.
Continuous AI protection
The joint effort provides businesses with a streamlined path to integrating AI securely, without overhauling existing security frameworks. Attendees of the RSA Conference can learn more about these AI security innovations at F5's booth, and explore the F5-Forcepoint solution at the Forcepoint Experience Centre during the RSA week in San Francisco.
F5, the global pioneer in delivering and securing every app and API, and Forcepoint, a global pioneer in data security, announce a new alliance to help enterprises secure AI across its lifecycle—from foundational data discovery and classification through runtime protection and continuous assurance.
As organisations rapidly deploy AI across copilots, assistants, and automated workflows, security practices are struggling to keep pace. Many enterprises face complex challenges in identifying where sensitive data resides, how it flows through AI systems, and the potential risks introduced during production. While data governance, application security, and runtime protections remain crucial, they commonly operate in silos, creating gaps between security policy and AI behavior in practice.
Operationalising AI safely
To solve this problem, Forcepoint’s AI-native Data Security Posture Management (DSPM) data discovery and classification capabilities combine with F5’s red teaming and AI guardrails functionality in the F5 Application Delivery and Security Platform (ADSP). This approach provides runtime protections for AI applications, APIs, models, and agents to help organisations operationalise AI safely while maintaining control and visibility over sensitive enterprise data.
The combined capabilities help security teams identify and address data vulnerabilities in real time, prioritise AI use cases based on risk, enforce runtime controls over AI interactions, and monitor systems for misuse or abnormal behaviour. Continuous telemetry and policy validation provide ongoing assurance that AI systems are operating securely and in line with enterprise governance requirements.
Security and runtime protections
“Enterprises are moving AI initiatives from experimentation to production faster than most security programs can adapt,” said John Maddison, Chief Marketing Officer, F5.
“By combining Forcepoint’s deep data intelligence and contextual awareness with F5’s advanced application security and runtime protections, organisations eliminate operational security gaps with unmatched confidence and control in their AI operations. As AI’s threat surface continues to expand, the combined power of DSPM technologies with F5’s AI Red Team and AI Guardrails equips enterprises with proactive tools to securely scale and govern AI at every stage of its lifecycle.”
Redefined data security
“AI has fundamentally redefined data security, exposing static policies for what they are: inadequate,” said Naveen Palavalli, Chief Product and Marketing Officer, Forcepoint.
“F5 and Forcepoint are establishing a new standard of continuous, adaptive protection that follows data from the moment of creation through every stage of its lifecycle, including the runtime layer where AI systems operate, evolve, and expand risk vectors. The threats AI brings require a new category for proactive data and AI risk mitigation, and our partnership is delivering on this today.”
Business-critical data
Organisations adopting AI must determine which data should be accessible to AI systems, which use cases present the greatest risk, and how to enforce policies once AI applications are in production. The F5-Forcepoint partnership addresses these challenges by treating AI security as a continuous lifecycle, connecting data understanding with runtime enforcement.
At the foundation, Forcepoint enables organisations to discover, classify, prioritise, and govern sensitive and business-critical data across cloud, SaaS, endpoint, and enterprise data environments. This AI-powered visibility helps determine which data is appropriate for AI use and which initiatives require the highest level of scrutiny.
Adversarial testing capabilities
F5 then secures AI systems at runtime by enforcing policies across APIs, gateways, applications, and AI agents. The F5 AI Red Team and F5 AI Guardrails functionality within F5 ADSP enables customers to secure AI models through its monitoring and adversarial testing capabilities. By leveraging the solution, customers will defend against threat actors by detecting prompt abuse, preventing data exfiltration, and protecting AI models and workloads from emerging threats.
Together, the companies enable organisations to move from data reality to runtime trust, ensuring AI systems are grounded in trusted data while continuously protected as they operate in production.
AI security innovations
By aligning data security with application and API protection, the F5-Forcepoint partnership provides a pragmatic path for enterprises to adopt AI without rebuilding their security architecture or waiting for fully integrated platforms to mature.
F5 is at the RSA Conference this week, where attendees can visit booth #6365 to learn more about the joint F5-Forcepoint solution and related AI security innovations. Join Forcepoint leaders and experts to explore how organisations are securing data in the age of AI, including the F5-Forcepoint solution, at the Forcepoint Experience Centre on the fourth floor of the St. Regis San Francisco during RSA week.
