One sentence
Prisma AIRS surfaces and steers the AI enterprise. Cyphrex proves the act: who approved, what was touched, and what stayed blocked.
Who each is for
Palo Alto Networks
Agent Security Platform
Prisma AIRS discovers agents across cloud, SaaS, endpoint, and browser, and surfaces MCP and plugins. Network and API intercept detect and block prompt injection, data leakage, and malicious content in real time. AI Agent Protection covers tool misuse and memory poisoning. The AI Agent Gateway governs tool calls, model access, and external connections. Agent Identity Security assigns a governed identity with permissions and traceability. The Prisma AIRS MCP Server validates tool invocations and can allow or block them.
Discover → Assess → Protect.
Cyphrex
Compliance infrastructure for agents
A decide-and-prove layer for teams who will instrument an agent or route its MCP traffic, and who need each decision kept as tamper-evident evidence.
Enforce the action → tamper-evident evidence.
Capability comparison
| Capability | Palo Alto (Prisma AIRS) | Cyphrex |
|---|
| Inline AI runtime firewall (network + API) | Strong fit | Not an NGFW / AI firewall |
|---|
| Discover agents / MCP / shadow AI across estate | Strong fit | Sees what you instrument / route |
|---|
| Agent gateway (tools, models, connections) | Strong fit | MCP gateway on instrumented path |
|---|
| Agent-specific threat detection (injection, memory, tool misuse) | Strong fit | Policy violations + alerts; not AIRS |
|---|
| Agent identity inside PANW platform | Strong fit (AIRS 3.0) | Per-agent identity + decision record |
|---|
| Tamper-evident, independently verifiable decision record | Sessions / violations / policy visibility for security teams | Ed25519-signed packages + public /verify |
|---|
| Who approved / what touched / what stayed blocked durable receipt | Runtime security telemetry | Compliance receipt for auditors, insurers, legal |
|---|
When Palo Alto Networks is the better fit
- You already run Palo Alto Networks and want AI runtime in the same fabric.
- The pain is prompt injection, data leak, or agent tool misuse at network or API intercept.
- The buying center is network, cloud security, or the platform team, not evidence packaging.
- You need Discover, Assess, and Protect across endpoints, browsers, and cloud agents.
- The primary need is threat prevention, not a third-party-verifiable compliance receipt.
When Cyphrex is the better fit
- Legal, risk, or compliance asks for a receipt a third party can verify.
- Builders will instrument agents or route MCP through a gateway and want decide, enforce, and prove in one path.
- You already have, or will buy, Prisma AIRS. The missing piece is the durable decide-and-prove trail.
- Regulated buyers want a signed, hash-bound action history, not only sessions and violations views.
- Blocked steps are recorded as blocked, with the rule and timestamp, as compliance infrastructure.
Better together
Prisma AIRS steers and stops AI threats in traffic and tool paths. Cyphrex proves which policy decisions happened on the steps that matter for auditors.
What Cyphrex evidence proves
What a signed report contains
- Agent
- Action and resource
- Allowed or blocked
- Rule and violations
- Timestamp
How verification works
Every Cyphrex evidence package is signed with Ed25519 and bound with SHA-256. On /verify, someone can check it without a Cyphrex login.
Compliance mapping
Evidence artifacts map toward SOC 2 / EU AI Act / HIPAA / SR 26-2 style reporting — not certification; details on Trust.
Limits
Cyphrex signs what flows through the SDK check() or the MCP gateway. It does not invent coverage for a path it never saw. Cyphrex is not your auditor.
Frequently asked
Is Cyphrex a Prisma AIRS alternative or a complement?▾
Often a complement. Prisma AIRS surfaces and steers the AI enterprise. Cyphrex proves the act on the steps you route through decide-and-prove. Cyphrex does not replace Prisma AIRS or a next-generation firewall.
Does Cyphrex provide an AI runtime firewall?▾
No. Inline detection and blocking of prompt injection, data leakage, malicious content, and agent tool misuse is Prisma AIRS’s job. Cyphrex is not an NGFW or AI firewall.
Can a third party verify a Cyphrex decision without a Cyphrex login?▾
Yes. A Cyphrex package is Ed25519-signed and SHA-256-bound. On /verify, someone can check the decision without a Cyphrex login.