CISO Tribune

Vendor comparison · 2 companies

Adaptive Security vs Proofpoint

Adaptive Security sells a platform that consolidates security awareness training, phishing simulations, email security, AI governance and human risk monitoring. Proofpoint sells security that covers data and AI as one system, with access that follows intent. CISO Tribune files both under Email security. This page sets the two records side by side: what each sells, where it is based, who owns and funds it, the customers it names and its recent news, each fact numbered to its source.

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  • Adaptive Security
  • Proofpoint
Adaptive Security vs Proofpoint: Products, Customers and Funding Compared
Adaptive SecurityAdaptive Security sells a platform that consolidates security awareness training, phishing simulations, email security, AI governance and human risk monitoring.adaptivesecurity.comProofpointProofpoint sells security that covers data and AI as one system, with access that follows intent.proofpoint.com
What it sells
  • Security Awareness Training[2][3][14][23]Interactive training modules covering AI threats, phishing, voice cloning, and compliance.
  • Phish Triage[2][3][17]Classifies employee-reported emails and takes action on them.
  • Compliance[2][3][21]Compliance and policy training for frameworks such as HIPAA, GDPR, PCI-DSS and CCPA.
  • ITM / Endpoint DLP[19]Endpoint software whose main features are supported on Windows, Mac and Linux.
  • Proofpoint Threat Intelligence Services[21]A Proofpoint team that provides Threat Insights.
  • ET Intel[21]A subscription that gives full access to all insights.
  • ET Pro[21]A subscription that gives full access to all insights.
Categories
Headquarters
New York, United States[1]Sunnyvale, United States[1]
Founded
2024[1][17]2002[1]
Ownership and funding
Privately held[1][12][13]Owned by Thoma Bravo since 2021[3][12][14][15]
Named customers
Not stated on its pages
  • Xcel Energy[4]
  • Princeton University[5]
  • Columbia University[6]
  • Informatica[7]
  • California Department of Motor Vehicles[8]
Recent news
  • October 6, 2026Adaptive Security was named to Fast Company's 2026 Next Big Things in Tech list.[11]
  • June 9, 2026Adaptive Security announced a 15-video security awareness training series starring Conan O'Brien, available to its current enterprise customers.[23]
  • April 23, 2026Adaptive Security published a product update announcing a beta release of its AI Governance capability.[10]
  • December 16, 2025Adaptive Security announced an $81 million Series B with new investors NVIDIA, Bain Capital Ventures, Capital One Ventures and Citi Ventures, plus existing investors.[9]
  • October 15, 2026Proofpoint and Varonis announced a definitive agreement under which Proofpoint will acquire Varonis in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $6.3 billion.[16]
  • September 22, 2026Proofpoint announced the Agentic Collaboration Security system, combining an intent-based detection model with agentic capabilities for email, collaboration tools and the browser.[17]
  • September 22, 2026Proofpoint announced the Proofpoint Agentic Data and AI Security system, built to secure AI and data as one connected risk.[18]
  • September 3, 2026Proofpoint introduced the SOC Analyst Agent, an AI capability that helps security teams investigate threats across Proofpoint security data, built with OpenAI models.[9]
  • August 4, 2026Proofpoint launched an OEM program that lets technology providers, security vendors and managed service providers embed its threat intelligence and detection capabilities.[10]
G2 and Gartner Peer Insights
  • G2: listed, seen November 10, 2026[14]
  • Gartner Peer Insights: Not stated on its pages
Who it fits
From its own pages, Adaptive Security sells mainly to organizations that want training, simulations, email security and AI governance in one platform. Its enterprise material addresses security teams that use separate tools for each of those functions. Its healthcare material addresses training staff at healthcare organizations, and it describes a hospital and a bank among its customers. Its pages address lean IT and security teams as well as established SOCs.From its own pages, Proofpoint addresses cyberattacks on organisations where people and AI agents work side by side across email, cloud and collaboration tools. The customers Proofpoint quotes include an organisation using Proofpoint for AI security for employees using AI services and tools, and for AI security in the tools and agents it is building. A quoted Proofpoint customer runs email security, DLP and insider threat management that work together, with its analyst using a single security console.
Last verified
September 27, 2026October 10, 2026

Where they overlap

  • Adaptive Security and Proofpoint are both filed under Email security.
  • Both are headquartered in the United States.

Where they differ, field by field

  • Adaptive Security's primary category is Security awareness training; Proofpoint's is Email security.
  • Adaptive Security is also filed under AI governance. Proofpoint is also filed under Collaboration app security, Human risk management and Insider risk management.
  • Adaptive Security lists Security Awareness Training, Phish Triage and Compliance. Proofpoint lists ITM / Endpoint DLP, Proofpoint Threat Intelligence Services, ET Intel and ET Pro.
  • Adaptive Security is headquartered in New York, United States. Proofpoint is headquartered in Sunnyvale, United States.
  • Adaptive Security was founded in 2024. Proofpoint was founded in 2002.
  • Adaptive Security is privately held. Proofpoint is owned by Thoma Bravo, since 2021.
  • Proofpoint publicly names Xcel Energy, Princeton University, Columbia University, Informatica and California Department of Motor Vehicles.

What it sells: Adaptive Security

What Security Awareness Training does[2][3][14][23]
Training modules are drawn from a library of over 1,000 resources. Triggered and one-time campaigns run automatically, with completion tracked across the organization. Customers can build custom modules from their own policies using Adaptive's AI content creator.
What Phish Triage does[2][3][17]
The Phish Alert Button and AI-powered Phish Triage classify employee-reported emails and automatically take action. Phish Triage remediates confirmed threats and notifies affected employees.
What Compliance does[2][3][21]
Pre-built tracks cover HIPAA, GDPR, PCI-DSS, CCPA, and more. Customers can upload a policy document or describe a requirement to generate training with AI. Audit-ready reports show completions and scores by framework, employee, and date.

What it sells: Proofpoint

What Proofpoint Threat Intelligence Services does[21]
Threat Insights are provided by the Proofpoint Threat Intelligence Services team. Premium Threat Intelligence Services analysts curate threat news highlights.
What ET Intel does[21]
Subscribing to ET Intel or ET Pro gives full access to all insights. Threat Insights are provided by the Proofpoint Threat Intelligence Services team.
What ET Pro does[21]
Subscribing to ET Intel or ET Pro gives full access to all insights. Threat Insights are provided by the Proofpoint Threat Intelligence Services team.

Questions about Adaptive Security and Proofpoint

What do Adaptive Security and Proofpoint sell?
Adaptive Security sells Security Awareness Training, Phish Triage and Compliance. Proofpoint sells ITM / Endpoint DLP, Proofpoint Threat Intelligence Services, ET Intel and ET Pro.
Are Adaptive Security and Proofpoint in the same category?
They share Email security. Adaptive Security's primary category is Security awareness training and Proofpoint's is Email security.
Where are Adaptive Security and Proofpoint headquartered?
Adaptive Security is headquartered in New York, United States. Proofpoint is headquartered in Sunnyvale, United States.
When were Adaptive Security and Proofpoint founded?
Adaptive Security was founded in 2024. Proofpoint was founded in 2002.
Who owns Adaptive Security and Proofpoint?
Adaptive Security is privately held. Proofpoint is owned by Thoma Bravo, since 2021.
Which customers do Adaptive Security and Proofpoint name?
Proofpoint publicly names Xcel Energy, Princeton University, Columbia University, Informatica and California Department of Motor Vehicles.
Who are Adaptive Security and Proofpoint sold to?
From its own pages, Adaptive Security sells mainly to organizations that want training, simulations, email security and AI governance in one platform. From its own pages, Proofpoint addresses cyberattacks on organisations where people and AI agents work side by side across email, cloud and collaboration tools.
What have Adaptive Security and Proofpoint announced recently?
October 6, 2026: Adaptive Security was named to Fast Company's 2026 Next Big Things in Tech list. October 15, 2026: Proofpoint and Varonis announced a definitive agreement under which Proofpoint will acquire Varonis in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $6.3 billion.

About Adaptive Security

Adaptive Security sells a platform that consolidates security awareness training, phishing simulations, email security, AI governance and human risk monitoring. Adaptive Security says its products work together or stand alone.[2][3][14]

Adaptive Security says adversaries use AI and LLMs to rapidly generate sophisticated social engineering attacks that exploit organizational complexity at every level. For enterprises, Adaptive Security describes threats that include executive impersonation targeting finance and leadership teams, AI-generated spear phishing built from OSINT data, deepfake voice and video attacks, and inbound email threats that existing gateways miss. Adaptive Security describes attacks that arrive via email, SMS, voice, and video.[2][3][14]

Security Awareness Training consists of interactive training modules covering AI threats, phishing, voice cloning, and compliance, drawn from a library of over 1,000 resources. Triggered and one-time campaigns in Security Awareness Training run automatically, with completion tracked across the organization. Adaptive Security supports custom modules built from a customer's own policies using Adaptive's AI content creator. Adaptive Security says its healthcare training modules are designed to be completed in under 10 minutes. Adaptive Security integrates with Workday, ADP, and other common LMS platforms used in healthcare environments, and supports SCORM exports for organizations that need to push content into an existing learning management system.[2][3][5]

Phishing Simulations recreate the people, channels, and business situations employees trust. Adaptive Security simulates every major attack vector, including email phishing, SMS, voice calls, and deepfake video attacks. When someone fails a simulation, Adaptive Security delivers a short micro-lesson explaining exactly what to look for next time. Podium uses Adaptive Security's realistic voice and SMS phishing simulations alongside automated training campaigns, custom content, and integrations with Okta and Slack.[4][5][15][16]

Adaptive Security's Email Security re-analyzes every inbound message after native filtering to catch the attacks that reach the inbox anyway, then remediates them automatically. Threats are broken out by type: credential phishing, callback phishing, business email compromise, extortion, and malicious payloads. Adaptive Email Security detects and removes phishing attacks, including threats employees never report, and can investigate and remove detected threats across affected inboxes, including messages that have already been delivered. Adaptive Email Security examines who is making a request, how they communicate, and the business context behind the message to identify fraud that may contain no malicious link or attachment.[2][15][18]

The Phish Alert Button and AI-powered Phish Triage classify employee-reported emails and automatically take action. Adaptive Phish Triage automatically classifies and resolves high-confidence reports, allowing the security team to focus on messages that require attention. Adaptive Security can send verdicts and relevant context to supported downstream security workflows through integrations.[2]

Adaptive AI Governance builds a clear view of AI activity across a customer's organization. Adaptive Security says customers can see how employees use AI, prevent sensitive data exposure, and apply context-aware policies across browsers, desktop apps, and developer workflows. Adaptive Security defines shadow AI as the use of AI tools, accounts, or workflows that an organization has not approved or cannot properly see and govern. Adaptive Security distinguishes personal and company AI accounts used in browser-based workflows.[19][20]

For compliance training, Adaptive Security offers pre-built tracks for HIPAA, GDPR, PCI-DSS, CCPA, and more, with state and country-specific content in 40+ localized languages. Customers can upload a policy document or describe a requirement to generate training with AI. Adaptive Security exports audit-ready reports with completions and scores by framework, employee, and date.[3][21]

Adaptive Security says it is SOC 2 Type II certified, HIPAA compliant, and GDPR compliant. Adaptive Security connects to a customer's HRIS and identity provider so employee groups stay in sync automatically as people join, leave, or change roles. Adaptive Security describes Lake City Bank and Bay Federal among its customers, and says First Liberty achieved 98% security training completion, with staff finishing in about a day.[2][3][4][5][6][7][8][14][18][21][22]

Adaptive Security on the record

Sources

Adaptive Security full record

  1. [1]Openai backed adaptive security named to fortunes cyber 60 list 302600736Adaptive Security via PR Newswire · prnewswire.com · published October 31, 2025 · Tier A
  2. [2]Protect Against Deepfakes and AI-Powered Attacks | Adaptive SecurityAdaptive Security · undated page, accessed September 27, 2026 · Tier A
  3. [3]Finance | Adaptive SecurityAdaptive Security · undated page, accessed October 23, 2026 · Tier A
  4. [4]Education | Adaptive SecurityAdaptive Security · undated page, accessed October 23, 2026 · Tier A
  5. [5]Healthcare | Adaptive SecurityAdaptive Security · undated page, accessed October 23, 2026 · Tier A
  6. [6]Government | Adaptive SecurityAdaptive Security · undated page, accessed October 23, 2026 · Tier A
  7. [7]Hospitality | Adaptive SecurityAdaptive Security · undated page, accessed October 23, 2026 · Tier A
  8. [8]Sports | Adaptive SecurityAdaptive Security · undated page, accessed October 23, 2026 · Tier A
  9. [9]Our Series B, and the Future of Security Awareness in the Age of AIAdaptive Security · published December 16, 2025 · Tier A
  10. [10]AI Governance (Beta)Adaptive Security · published April 23, 2026 · Tier A
  11. [11]Adaptive Security Named to Fast Company's 2026 Next Big Things in Tech ListAdaptive Security · published October 6, 2026 · Tier A
  12. [12]Adaptive Security Reviews 2026: Details, Pricing, & Features - G2G2 · undated page, accessed October 23, 2026 · Tier C
  13. [13]Adaptive Security Reviews, Ratings & Features 2026 | Gartner Peer InsightsGartner Peer Insights · undated page, accessed October 23, 2026 · Tier C
  14. [14]Enterprise | Adaptive SecurityAdaptive Security · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  15. [15]Payment & Vendor Fraud Prevention | Adaptive SecurityAdaptive Security · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  16. [16]Deepfake & AI Impersonation Protection | Adaptive SecurityAdaptive Security · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  17. [17]Automated Phishing Response | Adaptive SecurityAdaptive Security · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  18. [18]Credential Phishing Protection | Adaptive SecurityAdaptive Security · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  19. [19]AI Governance & Data Protection | Adaptive SecurityAdaptive Security · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  20. [20]Browser Security | Adaptive SecurityAdaptive Security · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  21. [21]Compliance & Policy Training | Adaptive SecurityAdaptive Security · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  22. [22]Executive Risk Reduction | Adaptive SecurityAdaptive Security · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  23. [23]Conan O'Brien Teams Up With Adaptive Security To Fight AI Threats with LaughsPR Newswire · published June 9, 2026 · Tier A

Proofpoint full record

  1. [1]AboutProofpoint · proofpoint.com · published April 21, 2025 · Tier A
  2. [2]ProductsProofpoint · proofpoint.com · published September 24, 2026 · Tier A
  3. [3]Thoma bravo completes acquisition of proofpointThoma Bravo · thomabravo.com · published August 31, 2021 · Tier A
  4. [4]Xcel energyProofpoint · proofpoint.com · undated page, accessed October 10, 2026 · Tier A
  5. [5]Princeton university safe with proofpoint email securityProofpoint · proofpoint.com · undated page, accessed October 10, 2026 · Tier A
  6. [6]Columbia universityProofpoint · proofpoint.com · undated page, accessed October 10, 2026 · Tier A
  7. [7]InformaticaProofpoint · proofpoint.com · undated page, accessed October 10, 2026 · Tier A
  8. [8]California department motor vehiclesProofpoint · proofpoint.com · undated page, accessed October 10, 2026 · Tier A
  9. [9]Proofpoint soc analyst agent openai daybreakProofpoint · proofpoint.com · published September 3, 2026 · Tier A
  10. [10]Proofpoint launches oem program help security providers embed trusted threatProofpoint · proofpoint.com · published August 4, 2026 · Tier A
  11. [11]Proofpoint launches dedicated msp business unit and introduces 365 totalProofpoint · proofpoint.com · published May 13, 2026 · Tier A
  12. [12]Enterprise Cybersecurity Solutions, Services & Training | Proofpoint USProofpoint · undated page, accessed October 27, 2026 · Tier A
  13. [13]Integrating ITM On-Prem (ObserveIT) with a Service Desk SystemProofpoint · undated page, accessed October 27, 2026 · Tier A
  14. [14]Proofpoint Core Email Protection Reviews & Product Details - G2G2 · undated page, accessed October 27, 2026 · Tier C
  15. [15]Proofpoint Acquires Acuvity to Deliver AI Security and Governance Across the Agentic WorkspaceProofpoint · published February 12, 2026 · Tier A
  16. [16]Proofpoint to Acquire Varonis in a $6.3 Billion TransactionProofpoint · published October 15, 2026 · Tier A
  17. [17]Proofpoint Stops the Attacks Traditional Defenses Miss in the AI EraProofpoint · published September 22, 2026 · Tier A
  18. [18]Proofpoint Breaks Down the Divide Between Data Security and AI Security with the Industry’s First Unified Agentic SystemProofpoint · published September 22, 2026 · Tier A
  19. [19]ITM / Endpoint DLP Windows / Mac / Linux SupportProofpoint · published November 9, 2026 · Tier A
  20. [20]Assigning SQL Permissions to the Service Account UserProofpoint · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  21. [21]Proofpoint: Emerging Threats IntelligenceProofpoint · published November 9, 2026 · Tier A

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