CISO Tribune

Vendor comparison · 2 companies

Harmonic Security vs Knostic

Harmonic Security sells AI Governance and Control (AIGC), a control layer that secures and enables the AI-First workforce. Knostic discovers and secures agents, coding assistants, and their supply chain, from MCP to skills and Code to Cowork. CISO Tribune files both under AI model and agent security and AI governance. 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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  • Harmonic Security
  • Knostic
Harmonic Security vs Knostic: Products, Customers and Funding Compared
Harmonic SecurityHarmonic Security sells AI Governance and Control (AIGC), a control layer that secures and enables the AI-First workforce.harmonic.securityKnosticKnostic discovers and secures agents, coding assistants, and their supply chain, from MCP to skills and Code to Cowork.knostic.ai
What it sells
  • Harmonic Command[3]Gives security teams visibility into how employees and agents use AI, plus controls for using the tools safely.
  • MCP Gateway[2][3][4][6]A local gateway that extends Harmonic coverage to MCP activity.
  • Harmonic Endpoint Agent[6]Identifies native AI apps, IDEs, CLI tools, locally hosted models and inference API calls on employee devices.
  • Harmonic Usage Intelligence[8]Groups prompts, files, responses, and supported agent actions into tasks and use cases.
  • Kirin[4][5][6][7][11]Runs on the endpoint inside supported agents. Denies or blocks unsafe agent actions.
  • AgentMesh[4][5][6][7][11]Rates every skill, server, and extension.
Categories
Headquarters
Not stated on its pagesReston, United States[3]
Founded
Not stated on its pages2023[2][7]
Ownership and funding
Privately heldPrivately held[5]
Named customers
Not stated on its pagesNot stated on its pages
Recent news
Not stated on its pages
  • June 12, 2026Knostic was recognized in the Cloud Security Alliance's first Agentic AI Security Innovator Market Map.[10]
G2 and Gartner Peer Insights
  • G2: Not stated on its pages
  • Gartner Peer Insights: Not stated on its pages
  • G2: Not stated on its pages
  • Gartner Peer Insights: Not stated on its pages
Who it fits
Not written yetFrom its own pages, the company sells mainly to developers and teams that use AI coding agents and IDEs, with plans written for individual developers, growing teams, and engineering managers. Its pages describe developers and business users who install agents, extensions, MCP servers, and skills from open ecosystems. It lists an inventory export described as a register of AI systems for compliance and risk reporting. Its stated support covers macOS and Windows.
Last verified
November 3, 2026September 27, 2026

Where they overlap

  • Harmonic Security and Knostic are both filed under AI model and agent security and AI governance.
  • Both are privately held.

Where they differ, field by field

  • Harmonic Security's primary category is Workforce AI usage security; Knostic's is AI model and agent security.
  • Harmonic Security is also filed under Data loss prevention.
  • Harmonic Security lists Harmonic Command, MCP Gateway, Harmonic Endpoint Agent and Harmonic Usage Intelligence. Knostic lists Kirin and AgentMesh.
  • Knostic is headquartered in Reston, United States.
  • Knostic was founded in 2023.

What it sells: Harmonic Security

What Harmonic Command does[3]
Harmonic Command covers workforce AI use across supported browsers, desktop applications, command-line tools, AI APIs, and agentic workflows that use MCP. Harmonic Command intercepts the action and guides the user or agent toward a safer path.
What MCP Gateway does[2][3][4][6]
Supported OpenTelemetry sources and the local MCP Gateway extend Harmonic coverage to additional native, command-line, and MCP activity. The Harmonic MCP Gateway pairs with the Endpoint Agent and applies to agentic workflows. The MCP Gateway runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux.
What Harmonic Endpoint Agent does[6]
The Harmonic Endpoint Agent detects Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Claude Cowork and OpenAI Codex on macOS and Windows. The Endpoint Agent identifies locally hosted models such as Ollama on employee devices and ties that activity to the process and user behind it. Harmonic identifies connections to inference endpoints like OpenAI, Anthropic, Bedrock and Azure AI Foundry.

What it sells: Knostic

What Kirin does[4][5][6][7][11]
Kirin runs on the endpoint inside supported agents and sees the tools, extensions, servers, and skills actually installed and used. Kirin denies a destructive command before it executes, tells the developer why, and logs a Prevented alert for the SOC. Kirin blocks the connection to an MCP server before it is established, after AgentMesh scans and rates the server. Kirin deploys as an extension for Cursor and VS Code.
What AgentMesh does[4][5][6][7][11]
AgentMesh rates every skill, server, and extension. AgentMesh scans MCP servers for prompt injection, malicious behaviour, and supply-chain risk. AgentMesh detects prompt injection in skills, MCP servers, and extensions before install. Every paid AgentMesh plan includes Kirin IDE security.

Questions about Harmonic Security and Knostic

What do Harmonic Security and Knostic sell?
Harmonic Security sells Harmonic Command, MCP Gateway, Harmonic Endpoint Agent and Harmonic Usage Intelligence. Knostic sells Kirin and AgentMesh.
Are Harmonic Security and Knostic in the same category?
They share AI model and agent security and AI governance. Harmonic Security's primary category is Workforce AI usage security and Knostic's is AI model and agent security.
Where are Harmonic Security and Knostic headquartered?
Knostic is headquartered in Reston, United States.
When were Harmonic Security and Knostic founded?
Knostic was founded in 2023.
Who owns Harmonic Security and Knostic?
Harmonic Security is privately held. Knostic is privately held.
Who are Harmonic Security and Knostic sold to?
From its own pages, the company sells mainly to developers and teams that use AI coding agents and IDEs, with plans written for individual developers, growing teams, and engineering managers.
What have Harmonic Security and Knostic announced recently?
June 12, 2026: Knostic was recognized in the Cloud Security Alliance's first Agentic AI Security Innovator Market Map.

About Harmonic Security

Harmonic Security sells AI Governance and Control (AIGC), a control layer that secures and enables the AI-First workforce. Harmonic Security describes a platform that classifies every AI task, discovers why it is used, and controls it in real time. Harmonic Command covers workforce AI use across supported browsers, desktop applications, command-line tools, AI APIs, and agentic workflows that use MCP. Harmonic Command coverage includes ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot, Gemini, Cursor, and more than 1,000 web AI tools.[1][2][3]

Harmonic Command gives security teams visibility into how employees and agents use AI, plus controls for using the tools safely. Supported OpenTelemetry sources and the local MCP Gateway extend Harmonic coverage to additional native, command-line, and MCP activity. The Harmonic MCP Gateway pairs with the Endpoint Agent and applies to agentic workflows. The MCP Gateway runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux.[2][3][4][6]

The Harmonic Endpoint Agent identifies every native AI app, AI-first IDE, CLI tool, locally hosted model and direct inference API call running on employee devices. The Harmonic Endpoint Agent detects Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Claude Cowork and OpenAI Codex on macOS and Windows. Harmonic identifies connections to inference endpoints like OpenAI, Anthropic, Bedrock and Azure AI Foundry, and ties each connection back to the process and user that initiated it. The Endpoint Agent identifies locally hosted models such as Ollama on employee devices and ties that activity to the process and user behind it.[6]

Harmonic secures AI use in the browser with real-time visibility and control over how employees use AI tools. Harmonic identifies the specific account type and subscription plan in use. The Harmonic browser extension finds AI features running inside web apps, such as Magic Write in Canva. Harmonic can warn users as they are about to paste sensitive data, ask for a business justification, or steer them from an unsafe free tool to a sanctioned alternative. The Harmonic browser extension supports Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari, plus other Chromium browsers including Arc, Brave, Vivaldi, Island and Genspark.[7]

Harmonic Usage Intelligence groups prompts, files, responses, and supported agent actions into coherent tasks and organization-specific use cases, with views by department, employee, application, approval status, and time. Harmonic builds an inventory of the AI apps a workforce uses, who uses them and for what work. Harmonic records which tools are approved, how policy was applied, what was coached or blocked, and where sensitive data was exposed. Harmonic offers configurable retention, role-based access, employee masking and EU or US hosting. Harmonic does not train on customer data.[5][8][9]

Harmonic uses purpose-built small language models that read the whole prompt or file and interpret the nuance of natural language. Harmonic lets customers enforce enterprise accounts where data is ring-fenced, or restrict uploading corporate context into personal accounts. Harmonic can prevent the upload of protected health information and personally identifiable information to non-compliant models. Harmonic Security says it works with health systems, hospitals, payers and life sciences companies. Harmonic Security says it works with insurance carriers, brokers, MGAs and reinsurers. Harmonic can be deployed through Intune, Jamf, Kandji, or Group Policy.[1][2][3][4][5][8][10][11][12][13]

Harmonic Security on the record

Sources

Harmonic Security full record

  1. [1]Harmonic Security | AI Security for the WorkforceHarmonic Security · undated page, accessed November 3, 2026 · Tier A
  2. [2]Harmonic Security Raises $50 Million Series B Enabling Safe AI Adoption for Millions More EmployeesBusiness Wire · businesswire.com · published October 14, 2026 · Tier A
  3. [3]Harmonic Command: AI Governance & Usage Intelligence Platform | Harmonic SecurityHarmonic Security · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  4. [4]Harmonic Explore: AI Usage Visibility & Shadow AI Discovery | Harmonic SecurityHarmonic Security · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  5. [5]Harmonic Guide: Real-Time AI Policy Enforcement & Inline Controls | Harmonic SecurityHarmonic Security · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  6. [6]Endpoint AI Security & ControlHarmonic Security · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  7. [7]Browser-Based GenAI SecurityHarmonic Security · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  8. [8]AI Usage IntelligenceHarmonic Security · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  9. [9]AI Usage Governance: Enterprise AI Policy & ControlHarmonic Security · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  10. [10]DLP for Generative AIHarmonic Security · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  11. [11]GenAI Compliance for Regulated IndustriesHarmonic Security · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  12. [12]AI Security for HealthcareHarmonic Security · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  13. [13]AI Security for InsuranceHarmonic Security · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A

Knostic full record

  1. [1]Knostic - The control plane for agentic AI on the endpointKnostic · undated page, accessed September 27, 2026 · Tier A
  2. [2]Ending llm oversharing we raised 11 million to secure enterprise aiKnostic · knostic.ai · undated page, accessed September 27, 2026 · Tier A
  3. [3]Rsac 2025 innovation sandbox knostic reshaping the access control paradigm for enterprise ai securitySecurity Boulevard · securityboulevard.com · published April 25, 2025 · Tier B
  4. [4]Shadow AI Discovery & Governance - KnosticKnostic · undated page, accessed October 26, 2026 · Tier A
  5. [5]Pricing - KnosticKnostic · undated page, accessed October 26, 2026 · Tier A
  6. [6]AI Agent Security - KnosticKnostic · undated page, accessed October 26, 2026 · Tier A
  7. [7]MCP Security Posture Management - KnosticKnostic · undated page, accessed October 26, 2026 · Tier A
  8. [8]Terms of Service - KnosticKnostic · undated page, accessed October 26, 2026 · Tier A
  9. [9]Knostic Knostic Trust Center | Powered by SafeBaseKnostic · undated page, accessed October 26, 2026 · Tier A
  10. [10]Knostic Featured Across Three Categories in CSA's Agentic AI Security Innovator Market MapKnostic · published June 12, 2026 · Tier A
  11. [11]Prompt Injection Defense - KnosticKnostic · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A

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