CISO Tribune

Vendor comparison · 2 companies

HiddenLayer vs Orchid Security

HiddenLayer sells AI security that analyzes AI applications, models, and assets, identifies their risks, and protects them as teams build. Orchid Security sells an identity-first security platform that discovers, analyzes, governs, and proves identity controls across applications. CISO Tribune files both under AI model and agent 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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  • HiddenLayer
  • Orchid Security
HiddenLayer vs Orchid Security: Products, Customers and Funding Compared
HiddenLayerHiddenLayer sells AI security that analyzes AI applications, models, and assets, identifies their risks, and protects them as teams build.hiddenlayer.comOrchid SecurityOrchid Security sells an identity-first security platform that discovers, analyzes, governs, and proves identity controls across applications.orchid.security
What it sells
  • Model Scanning[1][4][6]Scans third-party and proprietary machine learning models to detect hidden risks.
  • Red Teaming[1][6][10]Runs continuous testing intended to identify threats early and validate AI defenses.
  • AI Guardrails[1][11]Applies policy-based controls intended to prevent misuse, data leakage and adversarial attacks on AI systems.
  • Agentic and MCP Protection[1][4][5][6]Monitors autonomous AI agents and MCP connections and is intended to guard against rogue behavior.
  • Orchid Security PlatformAn identity-first security platform that discovers, analyzes, governs, and proves identity controls across all applications.
  • Orchid Identity Audit[8]Continuous observability to identify Identity Dark Matter across all managed and unmanaged environments.
Categories
Headquarters
Austin, United States[2]Not stated on its pages
Founded
2022[2]Not stated on its pages
Ownership and funding
Privately held[3]Not stated on its pages
Named customers
Not stated on its pagesNot stated on its pages
Recent news
  • August 12, 2026HiddenLayer announced the appointment of Mike Gesnaldo as Chief Revenue Officer.[14]
  • September 15, 2026Orchid Security unveiled AI readiness controls for AI agents, covering ongoing identity drift detection and kill switches operating at the application level.[14]
  • September 9, 2026Orchid Security announced identity drift detection and application-level kill switches for AI agents.[12]
  • May 28, 2026Orchid Security extended its Identity Control Plane with capabilities aimed at governing AI agents.[13]
  • February 5, 2026Orchid Security unveiled Identity Audit, which combines audit data from unmanaged applications with audit logs from governed IAM systems into a unified view of identity activity.[11]
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
HiddenLayer describes securing AI used for fraud detection, trading, compliance, and customer engagement. HiddenLayer offers protection of agentic, generative, and predictive AI systems for mission assurance. HiddenLayer describes deployment through APIs, gateways, SDKs, or lightweight on-device integrations.From its own pages, Orchid Security sells mainly to teams in regulated industries under audit pressure and to identity programs with persistent blind spots. Orchid says it covers self-hosted and SaaS applications, along with cloud, on-prem, legacy, and custom-built applications. Orchid describes the risk of orphaned accounts left behind during an acquisition, so organisations that grow through acquisitions are among the buyers it addresses. Orchid integrates with existing IAM, PAM, and IGA tools rather than replacing them, so it speaks to organisations that already run those systems.
Last verified
November 2, 2026October 29, 2026

Where they overlap

  • HiddenLayer and Orchid Security are both filed under AI model and agent security.

Where they differ, field by field

  • HiddenLayer's primary category is AI model and agent security; Orchid Security's is Identity governance and administration.
  • HiddenLayer is also filed under AI firewalls and guardrails. Orchid Security is also filed under Privileged access management and Non-human identity security.
  • HiddenLayer lists Model Scanning, Red Teaming, AI Guardrails and Agentic and MCP Protection. Orchid Security lists Orchid Security Platform and Orchid Identity Audit.
  • HiddenLayer is headquartered in Austin, United States.
  • HiddenLayer was founded in 2022.
  • HiddenLayer is privately held.

What it sells: Orchid Security

What Orchid Security Platform does
Orchid discovers SaaS, cloud, on-prem, legacy, and custom-built applications automatically. Orchid analyzes authentication and authorization flows, detects risk, enforces policies, and automates remediation. Orchid integrates with existing IAM, PAM, and IGA tools to enhance visibility and governance.
What Orchid Identity Audit does[8]
Orchid Identity Audit maps identities across all applications, including those using legacy or retired domains. Orchid identifies high risk accounts that lack ownership or appear in dark web credential leaks. Orchid provides continuous evidence of decommissioned accounts.

Questions about HiddenLayer and Orchid Security

What do HiddenLayer and Orchid Security sell?
HiddenLayer sells Model Scanning, Red Teaming, AI Guardrails and Agentic and MCP Protection. Orchid Security sells Orchid Security Platform and Orchid Identity Audit.
Are HiddenLayer and Orchid Security in the same category?
They share AI model and agent security. HiddenLayer's primary category is AI model and agent security and Orchid Security's is Identity governance and administration.
Where are HiddenLayer and Orchid Security headquartered?
HiddenLayer is headquartered in Austin, United States.
When were HiddenLayer and Orchid Security founded?
HiddenLayer was founded in 2022.
Who owns HiddenLayer and Orchid Security?
HiddenLayer is privately held.
Who are HiddenLayer and Orchid Security sold to?
HiddenLayer describes securing AI used for fraud detection, trading, compliance, and customer engagement. From its own pages, Orchid Security sells mainly to teams in regulated industries under audit pressure and to identity programs with persistent blind spots.
What have HiddenLayer and Orchid Security announced recently?
August 12, 2026: HiddenLayer announced the appointment of Mike Gesnaldo as Chief Revenue Officer. September 15, 2026: Orchid Security unveiled AI readiness controls for AI agents, covering ongoing identity drift detection and kill switches operating at the application level.

About HiddenLayer

HiddenLayer sells AI security that analyzes AI applications, models, and assets, identifies their risks, and protects them as teams build. HiddenLayer builds an inventory of the AI applications, models, and assets in a customer environment. HiddenLayer offers a firewall that monitors, detects, and responds in real time to adversarial threats on agentic and generative AI applications. HiddenLayer continually identifies threats and validates defenses for agentic and generative AI applications.[1]

HiddenLayer says developers are embedding AI into tools and workflows faster than security teams can track. HiddenLayer says third-party models introduce unknown code and vulnerabilities. HiddenLayer says coding agents can read sensitive files, execute shell commands, install dependencies, or expose credentials. HiddenLayer says attackers can manipulate AI systems through prompts, retrieved content, tool output, or other untrusted inputs.[1][4][5]

HiddenLayer automatically builds a living inventory of AI across an environment, including shadow AI. HiddenLayer scans cloud accounts, repos, endpoints, and pipelines to detect every model and associated agent. HiddenLayer scans AWS, Azure, GCP, VMs, containers, and APIs for AI assets. HiddenLayer automatically associates AI assets with owners, business units, sensitivity, and risk levels. HiddenLayer aligns AI assets with NIST, OWASP, and ATLAS frameworks.[6][7]

HiddenLayer analyzes models for malware, vulnerabilities, backdoors, and unknown components before they reach production. HiddenLayer scans model files and URLs for malware, CVEs, backdoors, and integrity issues before deployment. HiddenLayer analyzes architectures, layers, weights, and artifacts for tampering or anomalies. HiddenLayer tests commercial models for safety and security before integration. HiddenLayer identifies where models come from, including origin and licensing.[4][6][7][8]

HiddenLayer continuously tests AI systems against evolving attacks and uncovers weaknesses early. HiddenLayer tests for jailbreaks, injection, role confusion, and harmful response patterns. HiddenLayer probes for extraction of PHI, PII, or proprietary data. HiddenLayer simulates unauthorized actions through agent tools and APIs.[6][9][10]

HiddenLayer detects and responds to AI attacks in production. HiddenLayer monitors prompts, outputs, memory, and agent actions in real time to detect and block prompt injection, data leakage, model theft, and unsafe tool use. HiddenLayer observes and reconstructs agent interactions across tools, data, and workflows in real time. HiddenLayer detects, blocks, or redacts unsafe actions and sensitive information according to policy and platform capabilities. HiddenLayer integrates runtime detections and enforcement events with existing SIEM, SOAR, and security operations workflows. HiddenLayer extends Runtime Security into AI coding agents through lightweight, on-device integration.[5][6][10]

HiddenLayer enforces boundaries around content, toxicity, bias, and regulatory restrictions. HiddenLayer detects and prevents PII, PHI, and proprietary data exposure in generated content. HiddenLayer enforces safe, compliant, and policy aligned AI behavior across applications, models, and business units. HiddenLayer combines safety guardrails with real time threat detection and prompt injection blocking. HiddenLayer protects autonomous agents and MCP based systems from prompt injection, unsafe tool use, and harmful autonomous actions.[1][6][11]

HiddenLayer says its platform deploys across any architecture without exposing intellectual property, weights, prompts, or customer data. HiddenLayer offers deployment through APIs, gateways, SDKs, or lightweight on-device integrations. HiddenLayer offers services modeled after active adversarial campaigns targeting enterprise AI applications. HiddenLayer services evaluate every layer from AI asset discovery to data and model supply chains to runtime environments. HiddenLayer services provide detailed remediation playbooks tailored to models, infrastructure, and compliance needs. HiddenLayer services work in concert with the HiddenLayer AI Security Platform for ongoing protection. HiddenLayer services align with emerging AI governance standards, including NIST AI RMF and EU AI Act requirements.[4][6][12]

HiddenLayer describes securing AI used for fraud detection, trading, compliance, and customer engagement. HiddenLayer describes establishing governance controls aligned with FFIEC and OCC frameworks. HiddenLayer detects malware, tampered artifacts, and backdoored weights in pretrained models and libraries. HiddenLayer protects agentic, generative, and predictive AI systems for mission assurance.[1][4][6][10][13]

HiddenLayer on the record

Sources

HiddenLayer full record

  1. [1]HiddenLayer | Total AI SecurityHiddenLayer · undated page, accessed September 27, 2026 · Tier A
  2. [2]Hiddenlayer launches the first security solution to protect ai powered products 301587864HiddenLayer via PR Newswire · prnewswire.com · published July 19, 2022 · Tier A
  3. [3]Hiddenlayer 100m series b ai securityHiddenLayer · hiddenlayer.com · undated page, accessed September 27, 2026 · Tier A
  4. [4]Application Developers | HiddenLayerHiddenLayer · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  5. [5]AI Runtime Security | HiddenLayerHiddenLayer · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  6. [6]Platform | HiddenLayerHiddenLayer · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  7. [7]AI Discovery | HiddenLayerHiddenLayer · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  8. [8]AI Supply Chain Security | HiddenLayerHiddenLayer · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  9. [9]AI Attack Simulation | HiddenLayerHiddenLayer · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  10. [10]CISO | HiddenLayerHiddenLayer · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  11. [11]AI Guardrails | HiddenLayerHiddenLayer · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  12. [12]Services | HiddenLayerHiddenLayer · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  13. [13]Financial Services | HiddenLayerHiddenLayer · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  14. [14]HiddenLayer Appoints Mike Gesnaldo as Chief Revenue OfficerHiddenLayer · published August 12, 2026 · Tier A

Orchid Security full record

  1. [1]orchid.securityOrchid Security · orchid.security · undated page, accessed October 29, 2026 · Tier A
  2. [2]Ai readinessOrchid Security · orchid.security · published September 9, 2026 · Tier A
  3. [3]Orchid - Identity Visibility and Intelligence for the Application LayerOrchid Security · undated page, accessed November 5, 2026 · Tier A
  4. [4]Bringing Clarity to the Complexity of IdentityOrchid Security · undated page, accessed November 5, 2026 · Tier A
  5. [5]Agentic AI Identity Security: Closing the Gaps Agents ExploitOrchid Security · undated page, accessed November 5, 2026 · Tier A
  6. [6]Identity Security Platform: Uncover Identity Dark MatterOrchid Security · undated page, accessed November 5, 2026 · Tier A
  7. [7]Beyond Shadow IT: The Identity Dark Matter Undermining ComplianceOrchid Security · undated page, accessed November 5, 2026 · Tier A
  8. [8]Security That Survives the Acquisition.Orchid Security · undated page, accessed November 5, 2026 · Tier A
  9. [9]Customer StoriesOrchid Security · undated page, accessed November 5, 2026 · Tier A
  10. [10]Why 50% of Identity Projects Fail (And How to Fix the "Blueprint")Orchid Security · undated page, accessed November 5, 2026 · Tier A
  11. [11]Orchid Launches Identity Audit to Illuminate the Dark Matter of Enterprise Identity ActivityOrchid Security · published February 5, 2026 · Tier A
  12. [12]Orchid Security Adds AI Readiness Controls: Identity Drift Detection and Application-Level Kill Switches for AI AgentsGlobeNewswire · published September 9, 2026 · Tier A
  13. [13]Orchid Security targets AI agent sprawl with new identity governance toolsSiliconANGLE · published May 28, 2026 · Tier B
  14. [14]Orchid Security Introduces AI Agent Readiness Controls Featuring Continuous Identity Monitoring and Kill-Switch CapabilitiesCSO Online · published September 15, 2026 · Tier B

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