ESET is expanding its security portfolio to address the specific risks associated with autonomous agents and generative AI tools. The company is expanding its AI capabilities across threat detection, investigations, threat protection, and security operations, delivering added value to customers through built-in innovations rather than separate add-on solutions. Available on September 30, the update introduces new capabilities directly into the ESET PROTECT platform. The company aims to secure the “shadow AI” that employees often adopt without IT oversight, closing gaps in compliance and threat detection.
Organizations are integrating AI into daily workflows, yet these tools frequently operate outside standard security protocols. Such usage creates blind spots that attackers can exploit. The security vendor positions AI as a distinct entity within the network architecture, one that requires specific monitoring and defense mechanisms.
Blind spots remain dangerous.
“AI is a new class of actor inside the company – reading, writing, making decisions and executing. As such, it deserves the same security attention as users and endpoints, because it behaves like both at once,” said Kamil Pšenák, Senior AI Product Manager at ESET. “It is all converging around the endpoint. What used to be a neglected part of the cybersecurity stack is now primed to shine anew thanks to the proliferation of AI tools at a business level.”
Inspection of AI Supply Chains
The first layer of defense, ESET AI agent security, examines the components that autonomous agents bring into an environment. Agents often access files, download external modules, call external services, use repositories, interact with code, or rely on skills and plugins. These actions can introduce compromised elements.
The system inspects the entire AI supply chain to identify and block malicious inputs before they execute. The feature scans the elements agents bring into the network. It ensures that downloaded modules and interactions with external services do not introduce malicious code, which is a significant risk.
Related: Uptime Kuma delays new package trust
By validating the source and integrity of these components, the tool prevents the insertion of backdoors or malware into the corporate environment.
Behavioral Monitoring and Data Protection
While component inspection addresses supply chain risks, observing real-time actions is equally critical. ESET AI behavioral monitoring focuses on the behavior and actions of autonomous agents rather than just the elements they import. This capability is designed to detect and block malicious or suspicious activity, such as agents attempting to access inappropriate resources or run unsafe actions. Identifying behavior that falls outside the expected scope of their assigned tasks allows the system to intervene against potential threats.
For organizations utilizing generative AI tools, ESET AI conversation security provides a necessary layer of privacy control. This capability helps reduce the risk of unsafe prompting or accidental data leakage by inspecting uploaded files and metadata for sensitive content. Beyond protecting data from leaving the organization, the tool also protects users from malicious AI-generated responses. It achieves this by flagging content that originates from phishing, malicious, or unwanted websites, ensuring that the interaction remains secure from both ends.
These new capabilities are built on ESET’s prevention system and decades of AI expertise, helping organizations manage AI risk without adding complexity. ESET owns the technology, models, and intelligence behind these protections, embedding them directly into ESET AI Technologies. This strategy avoids the need to bolt on third-party solutions or require customers to manage separate tools and platforms. By extending protection to agents, behaviors, and conversations, ESET empowers channel partners and IT teams to secure the AI era and defend against emerging threats at scale through a single, unified solution that delivers stronger protection with less operational overhead and no additional cost.
“AI is changing the conversations our partners are having with customers,” said Ryan Grant, Country Manager, U.S. and Canada at ESET. “Instead of simply reacting to new AI risks, partners can lead with a prevention-first strategy that helps businesses adopt AI securely while reducing operational complexity. That’s a meaningful opportunity to deepen customer relationships and grow recurring security services.”
