CISO Tribune

Vendor comparison · 2 companies

Darktrace vs Forescout

Darktrace sells security for AI systems and agents, for network, cloud and OT environments, and for email and collaboration tools. Forescout sells the Vistaro platform, which delivers Universal Zero Trust Network Access, OT security, and continuous exposure management. CISO Tribune files both under OT and ICS 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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  • Darktrace
  • Forescout
Darktrace vs Forescout: Products, Customers and Funding Compared
DarktraceDarktrace sells security for AI systems and agents, for network, cloud and OT environments, and for email and collaboration tools.darktrace.comForescoutForescout sells the Vistaro platform, which delivers Universal Zero Trust Network Access, OT security, and continuous exposure management.forescout.com
What it sells
  • Darktrace / EMAIL[14][15]Email security that catches phishing, business email compromise, executive impersonation and social engineering attacks.
  • Forescout VistaroA platform that continuously discovers, assesses, controls, and governs every connected asset across IT, IoT, IoMT, and OT.
  • VistaroAI[1][5]An agentic AI suite that analyzes asset intelligence, exposure changes, threat context, and policy posture.
  • Forescout eyeFocusAn asset intelligence solution built on risk-based prioritization and persistent asset intelligence.
  • Forescout eyeSentryA cloud-native platform for Continuous Threat and Exposure Management.
  • Forescout SRAA controlled remote access layer for critical systems.
Categories
Headquarters
Cambridge, United Kingdom[2]Not stated on its pages
Founded
2013[2]Not stated on its pages
Ownership and funding
Owned by Thoma Bravo since 2024[3][12][13][17]Not stated on its pages
Named customers
  • Coca-Cola Beverages Northeast[4]
  • HARMAN International[5]
  • City of Las Vegas[6]
  • Centre Parcs[7]
  • Banco Galicia[8]
Not stated on its pages
Recent news
  • September 24, 2026Darktrace launched Signal Labs, a research unit that tests how AI models and agents misbehave in sandboxed environments, and published its first findings.[9]
  • September 22, 2026Darktrace made its SECURE AI product generally available, giving enterprises tools to discover AI use, monitor people and agents, and act on policy risks.[10]
  • August 4, 2026Darktrace announced an integration that feeds behavioral risk signals about AI agents from its SECURE AI product into the Microsoft Agent 365 portal.[11]
  • August 13, 2026Forescout and Crytica Security announced a partnership that combines rapid detection with asset intelligence to close visibility gaps.[2]
G2 and Gartner Peer Insights
  • G2: listed, seen November 3, 2026[13]
  • Gartner Peer Insights: Not stated on its pages
  • G2: listed, seen October 24, 2026[3]
  • Gartner Peer Insights: Not stated on its pages
Who it fits
Not written yetThe pages also address public sector IT and security professionals. They describe healthcare organizations that give clinicians, caregivers, research organizations and contractors network access while using agentless medical devices. They name global manufacturers, energy providers, MoDs, and critical infrastructure operators as users of the platform. Deployment options cover on-premises installations, virtual machines and Docker-based containerized deployments.
Last verified
October 10, 2026November 9, 2026

Where they overlap

  • Darktrace and Forescout are both filed under OT and ICS security.

Where they differ, field by field

  • Darktrace's primary category is Network detection and response; Forescout's is Network access control.
  • Darktrace is also filed under Email security. Forescout is also filed under IoT and medical device security.
  • Darktrace lists Darktrace / EMAIL. Forescout lists Forescout Vistaro, VistaroAI, Forescout eyeFocus, Forescout eyeSentry and Forescout SRA.
  • Darktrace is headquartered in Cambridge, United Kingdom.
  • Darktrace was founded in 2013.
  • Darktrace is owned by Thoma Bravo, since 2024.
  • Darktrace publicly names Coca-Cola Beverages Northeast, HARMAN International, City of Las Vegas, Centre Parcs and Banco Galicia.

What it sells: Darktrace

What Darktrace / EMAIL does[14][15]
Darktrace / EMAIL learns from each organization's own activity and users, not a shared cross-customer model. Darktrace says it catches phishing, business email compromise, executive impersonation, and social engineering attacks. Behavioral detection extends across Microsoft Teams, Zoom, and Slack. Each employee's risk score adapts their email controls.

What it sells: Forescout

What Forescout Vistaro does
Forescout Vistaro delivers Universal Zero Trust Network Access, OT security, and continuous exposure management. It analyzes 800+ data points from activity logs, threat intelligence, compliance, identity management, SIEMs and more to orchestrate policy enforcement. It offers options for on-premises installations, virtual machines and Docker-based containerized deployments.
What VistaroAI does[1][5]
VistaroAI is an agentic AI suite purpose-built for cybersecurity. VistaroAI puts the right work in front of the right people, automatically.
What Forescout eyeFocus does
Forescout eyeFocus keeps contextualized asset data in a searchable 90-day persistent asset inventory. It calculates a multifactor risk score based on configuration, function and behavior. It correlates Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures to the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog.
What Forescout SRA does
Forescout SRA governs how users connect to critical systems, what they can reach, and what can happen during the session. Forescout SRA supports on-prem, cloud, and hybrid deployments with options for appliances, virtual machines, and containers on existing hardware.

Questions about Darktrace and Forescout

What do Darktrace and Forescout sell?
Darktrace sells Darktrace / EMAIL. Forescout sells Forescout Vistaro, VistaroAI, Forescout eyeFocus, Forescout eyeSentry and Forescout SRA.
Are Darktrace and Forescout in the same category?
They share OT and ICS security. Darktrace's primary category is Network detection and response and Forescout's is Network access control.
Where are Darktrace and Forescout headquartered?
Darktrace is headquartered in Cambridge, United Kingdom.
When were Darktrace and Forescout founded?
Darktrace was founded in 2013.
Who owns Darktrace and Forescout?
Darktrace is owned by Thoma Bravo, since 2024.
Which customers do Darktrace and Forescout name?
Darktrace publicly names Coca-Cola Beverages Northeast, HARMAN International, City of Las Vegas, Centre Parcs and Banco Galicia.
Who are Darktrace and Forescout sold to?
The pages also address public sector IT and security professionals.
What have Darktrace and Forescout announced recently?
September 24, 2026: Darktrace launched Signal Labs, a research unit that tests how AI models and agents misbehave in sandboxed environments, and published its first findings. August 13, 2026: Forescout and Crytica Security announced a partnership that combines rapid detection with asset intelligence to close visibility gaps.

About Darktrace

Darktrace sells security for AI systems and agents, for network, cloud and OT environments, and for email and collaboration tools. Darktrace says it understands behavior across people, networks, applications, cloud, and AI. Darktrace says its Adaptive AI learns an organization's own operational patterns, unlike security tools that rely on static rules or training data from other organizations. Darktrace says its AI learns from each organization's own business data to identify anomalous activity for each asset across domains.[1][14]

Darktrace says a dynamic understanding of every email user in an organization allows Darktrace / EMAIL to take a targeted response to threats that others miss. Darktrace learns from each organization's own activity and users, not a shared cross-customer model. Darktrace says its email security catches phishing, business email compromise, executive impersonation, and social engineering attacks. Darktrace says its behavioral detection extends across Microsoft Teams, Zoom, and Slack. When credentials are compromised, Darktrace responds autonomously by terminating sessions, forcing re-authentication, and restricting access across email, SaaS, and cloud. Darktrace says each employee's risk score adapts their email controls, so protection strengthens for higher-risk users as training progresses. The Darktrace Email Analysis Agent integrates with Microsoft Defender and Security Copilot to streamline investigation and response for SOC teams.[1][15][16]

Darktrace says one solution detects, investigates, and contains threats across network, cloud, OT, endpoint, and identity, and learns the environment from the ground up. Darktrace / HYBRID NETWORK passively ingests traffic from on-premises and virtual networks, multi-cloud environments, OT, endpoints, and identities. Darktrace analyzes encrypted and decrypted traffic across network, cloud, and OT to surface activity that does not fit the environment. Darktrace then contains that activity with response actions taken natively or through firewalls, EDR, SOAR, and ITSM tools. Darktrace says it can flag account takeover, privilege escalation, and insider misuse when an identity stops matching how that identity normally behaves. When a threat is identified, Darktrace automatically acquires host and workload artifacts across endpoints, cloud, containers, and SaaS environments. Darktrace says its approach detects zero-day threats an average of 8 days before public CVE disclosure.

For cloud, Darktrace says its Adaptive AI continuously monitors activity across cloud assets, workloads, APIs, containers, and identities. Darktrace says Cyber AI Analyst automatically investigates alerts and connects related cloud and infrastructure activity. Darktrace's coverage extends across Compute, Serverless, Containers, IAM, Storage Services, and beyond. Darktrace draws data from lightweight host-based server agents or a combination of traffic mirroring and API logs. Darktrace supports security investigations by combining its detection and response capabilities with Amazon Security Lake.[18][19]

For operational technology, Darktrace maintains a live asset inventory, obtained through passive and active scanning, and immediately reveals CVEs and End-Of-Life status. Darktrace says it identifies and contains threats across converged IT and OT environments with Adaptive AI. Darktrace says Cyber AI Analyst automatically investigates alerts and correlates related activity across OT and IT environments. Darktrace says it automatically maps its models to the MITRE for ICS attacks/techniques, and says it helps organizations meet NIST and other regulations and standards.[20]

Darktrace calls its endpoint functionality Network Endpoint eXtended Telemetry (NEXT), which shows the endpoint process root cause for network threats. Darktrace says Cyber AI Analyst autonomously investigates alerts, gathers evidence, tests hypotheses, and delivers incident context. Darktrace responds autonomously with targeted actions that contain threats and avoid business disruption. Darktrace lets customers set response policies with configurable actions based on device types, user groups, locations, business hours, and operational requirements. Darktrace complements Microsoft Defender for Endpoint by connecting endpoint signals with behavioral understanding across a wider infrastructure.[15][21]

Darktrace says action can be taken independently or via integrations with native security controls, and that alerts are sent wherever the customer wants them. Darktrace extends its autonomous response to Check Point firewalls and to Palo Alto firewalls. Darktrace incidents and model breach alerts can be analyzed in CIM compatible Splunk dashboards. Darktrace enriches its AI decision-making with alerts from the Crowdstrike Falcon platform. Darktrace's Cyber AI Analyst integrates with Microsoft Copilot for Security.[14][15][22][23]

HARMAN International uses Darktrace coverage for email, network, and OT systems. Centre Parcs turned to Darktrace to protect its network, email, and cloud environments with a single AI security platform. Darktrace says organizations across all sizes and industries rely on it to get proactive about cyber security.[14][16][20]

Darktrace on the record

Sources

Darktrace full record

  1. [1]ProductsDarktrace · darktrace.com · undated page, accessed September 27, 2026 · Tier A
  2. [2]Darktrace named technology pioneer by world economic forumDarktrace · darktrace.com · undated page, accessed September 27, 2026 · Tier A
  3. [3]Darktrace announces formal completion of its acquisition by thoma bravoDarktrace · darktrace.com · published October 1, 2024 · Tier A
  4. [4]Coca cola beverages northeastDarktrace · darktrace.com · undated page, accessed October 10, 2026 · Tier A
  5. [5]Harman internationalDarktrace · darktrace.com · undated page, accessed October 10, 2026 · Tier A
  6. [6]City of las vegasDarktrace · darktrace.com · undated page, accessed October 10, 2026 · Tier A
  7. [7]Center parcs darktraceDarktrace · darktrace.com · undated page, accessed October 10, 2026 · Tier A
  8. [8]Banco galiciaDarktrace · darktrace.com · undated page, accessed October 10, 2026 · Tier A
  9. [9]Darktrace launches signal labs to research emerging risks of enterprise ai agentsDarktrace · darktrace.com · published September 24, 2026 · Tier A
  10. [10]Darktrace extends behavioral security with general availability of darktrace secure aiDarktrace · darktrace.com · published September 22, 2026 · Tier A
  11. [11]Darktrace among first cybersecurity companies selected to integrate risk signals into microsoft agent 365Darktrace · darktrace.com · published August 4, 2026 · Tier A
  12. [12]Darktrace | The Essential AI Cybersecurity PlatformDarktrace · undated page, accessed October 24, 2026 · Tier A
  13. [13]Darktrace / HYBRID NETWORK Reviews & Product Details - G2G2 · undated page, accessed October 24, 2026 · Tier C
  14. [14]AI Cyber Security Solutions | Harden Defenses Inside & OutDarktrace · undated page, accessed November 3, 2026 · Tier A
  15. [15]Microsoft Azure Security & Compliance | Security ServicesDarktrace · undated page, accessed November 3, 2026 · Tier A
  16. [16]AI-Based Email Security Software | Email Threat ProtectionDarktrace · undated page, accessed November 3, 2026 · Tier A
  17. [17]Network Security Management | AI Network Security ProtectionDarktrace · undated page, accessed November 3, 2026 · Tier A
  18. [18]Cloud Security Solutions | AI for Cloud Cyber SecurityDarktrace · undated page, accessed November 3, 2026 · Tier A
  19. [19]AWS Data Loss Prevention, Security Compliance, & ProtectionDarktrace · undated page, accessed November 3, 2026 · Tier A
  20. [20]Operational Technology (OT) Cyber Security SolutionsDarktrace · undated page, accessed November 3, 2026 · Tier A
  21. [21]AI Endpoint Security | Cyber Security Endpoint Protection SuiteDarktrace · undated page, accessed November 3, 2026 · Tier A
  22. [22]Network Security Integrations | Darktrace/NetworkDarktrace · undated page, accessed November 3, 2026 · Tier A
  23. [23]Integrations | Darktrace/EndpointDarktrace · undated page, accessed November 3, 2026 · Tier A

Forescout full record

  1. [1]PlatformForescout · forescout.com · published August 17, 2026 · Tier A
  2. [2]Crytica Security and Forescout Announce Integration to Strengthen Cyber Resilience for Critical InfrastructureBusiness Wire · published August 13, 2026 · Tier A
  3. [3]Forescout Platform Reviews 2026: Details, Pricing, & Features | G2G2 · undated page, accessed October 24, 2026 · Tier C
  4. [4]Forescout – Manage cyber risk and mitigate threats, continuously.Forescout · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  5. [5]The Forescout Vistaro™ PlatformForescout · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  6. [6]Network Access Control Security Software SolutionsForescout · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  7. [7]Universal Zero Trust Network Access for Every Device, EverywhereForescout · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  8. [8]Exposure ManagementForescout · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  9. [9]Forescout eyeFocusForescout · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  10. [10]OT Security Platform & Security Software ToolsForescout · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  11. [11]Cyber Threat Detection & Response Software SolutionsForescout · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  12. [12]Medical Device Cybersecurity Software PlatformForescout · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  13. [13]Network Security Software Tools & SolutionsForescout · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A

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