CISO Tribune

Vendor comparison · 2 companies

Hilt vs Proofpoint

Hilt sells a platform that maps data movement across cloud and endpoint infrastructure. Proofpoint sells security that covers data and AI as one system, with access that follows intent. CISO Tribune files both under Insider risk management. 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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  • Hilt
  • Proofpoint
Hilt vs Proofpoint: Products, Customers and Funding Compared
HiltHilt sells a platform that maps data movement across cloud and endpoint infrastructure.hilt.aiProofpointProofpoint sells security that covers data and AI as one system, with access that follows intent.proofpoint.com
What it sells
  • Platform[3][4][5]Maps data movement across cloud and endpoint infrastructure.
  • Infrastructure[1][2][3][4]Collectors read activity at the kernel across Linux hosts, VMs, containers, and bare metal.
  • Endpoints[4]Kernel collectors on macOS and Windows plus a managed browser extension.
  • Auto-update agent[5]Optional agent that rolls out collector updates in the customer's cluster.
  • 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
Not stated on its pagesSunnyvale, United States[1]
Founded
Not stated on its pages2002[1]
Ownership and funding
Not stated on its pagesOwned 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
Not stated on its pages
  • 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: Not stated on its pages
  • Gartner Peer Insights: Not stated on its pages
  • G2: listed, seen November 10, 2026[14]
  • Gartner Peer Insights: Not stated on its pages
Who it fits
Hilt describes cases involving regulated customer records leaving onto an engineer's laptop and trading strategies leaving a firm for personal accounts. Hilt collectors cover Linux hosts, VMs, containers, and bare metal, and macOS and Windows devices. For airgapped environments, Hilt ships an offline bundle.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
November 6, 2026October 10, 2026

Where they overlap

  • Hilt and Proofpoint are both filed under Insider risk management.

Where they differ, field by field

  • Hilt's primary category is Data loss prevention; Proofpoint's is Email security.
  • Hilt is also filed under Workforce AI usage security and Third-party risk and security ratings. Proofpoint is also filed under Collaboration app security and Human risk management.
  • Hilt lists Platform, Infrastructure, Endpoints and Auto-update agent. Proofpoint lists ITM / Endpoint DLP, Proofpoint Threat Intelligence Services, ET Intel and ET Pro.
  • Proofpoint is headquartered in Sunnyvale, United States.
  • Proofpoint was founded in 2002.
  • 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: Hilt

What Platform does[3][4][5]
Hilt ties each move to a real person and the job that ran it, then scores it against how the data normally moves. Hilt uses a temporal GNN with proprietary ML models to score every move, and agentic investigation writes the case. Hilt deploys as a single-tenant platform inside the customer's own cloud account.
What Infrastructure does[1][2][3][4]
Hilt collectors read process, file, and network activity at the kernel across Linux hosts, VMs, containers, and bare metal. Hilt collectors roll across a fleet, one per host, with no reboot and no inline tap.
What Endpoints does[4]
Hilt device endpoints run kernel collectors on macOS and Windows, plus a managed browser extension across Edge, Safari, Firefox, and Chromium browsers. On macOS, Hilt uses a system collector and a managed browser extension to watch the last hop, resolved to the person and process behind it.
What Auto-update agent does[5]
The Hilt auto-update agent runs as a Kubernetes CronJob in the customer's cluster. The Hilt auto-update agent polls the Hilt release registry, mirrors new images into the customer's registries, rolls out the update, verifies health after rollout, and reports status to a configured webhook.

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 Hilt and Proofpoint

What do Hilt and Proofpoint sell?
Hilt sells Platform, Infrastructure, Endpoints and Auto-update agent. Proofpoint sells ITM / Endpoint DLP, Proofpoint Threat Intelligence Services, ET Intel and ET Pro.
Are Hilt and Proofpoint in the same category?
They share Insider risk management. Hilt's primary category is Data loss prevention and Proofpoint's is Email security.
Where are Hilt and Proofpoint headquartered?
Proofpoint is headquartered in Sunnyvale, United States.
When were Hilt and Proofpoint founded?
Proofpoint was founded in 2002.
Who owns Hilt and Proofpoint?
Proofpoint is owned by Thoma Bravo, since 2021.
Which customers do Hilt and Proofpoint name?
Proofpoint publicly names Xcel Energy, Princeton University, Columbia University, Informatica and California Department of Motor Vehicles.
Who are Hilt and Proofpoint sold to?
Hilt describes cases involving regulated customer records leaving onto an engineer's laptop and trading strategies leaving a firm for personal accounts. 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 Hilt and Proofpoint announced recently?
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 Hilt

Hilt sells a platform that maps data movement across cloud and endpoint infrastructure. Hilt is Data Movement Governance for modern infrastructure. Hilt ties each move to a real person and the job that ran it, then scores it against how the data normally moves. Hilt uses a temporal GNN with proprietary ML models to score every move, and agentic investigation writes the case. Hilt says the most valuable data leaves on credentials that are supposed to have it.[1][2][3][4]

Hilt collectors are agents on customer hosts that produce metadata-level telemetry, shipped as a Linux static binary and a macOS managed agent. Hilt reads metadata only by default: who moved what, from where, to where, and how many bytes. Content-aware inspection in Hilt is a toggle the customer controls. Hilt supports both metadata-only and content inspection data collection. Hilt collectors read process, file, and network activity at the kernel across Linux hosts, VMs, containers, and bare metal. On macOS, Hilt uses a system collector and a managed browser extension to watch the last hop, resolved to the person and process behind it. Hilt device endpoints run kernel collectors on macOS and Windows, plus a managed browser extension across Edge, Safari, Firefox, and Chromium browsers. Hilt presents a move that begins on Linux and ends on macOS as one story, not three logs.[2][3][4][5]

One example rule is to alert when payroll data is uploaded outside the approved payroll job. Hilt can send findings to Slack or email, or export them to any SIEM. Hilt response options are to alert, block the upload, or isolate the host. Hilt observation runs off the data path, and enforcement is opt-in and acts at the endpoint, never inline on a server's high-throughput path.[2]

Hilt can isolate a host at the network from the control plane, quarantined while the rest of the fleet keeps running. Hilt intervention is optional and set per workload; on Linux the response is host quarantine, and on macOS Hilt can block the exfil itself. Whether Hilt alerts or quarantines the host, the customer gets a written case covering what happened, why it is unusual, the evidence, and what was done, in plain language. Hilt response is opt-in and off by default.[4]

Hilt deploys as a single-tenant platform inside the customer's own cloud account. Each customer receives a dedicated deployment in its own AWS account, GCP project, Azure subscription, or Ali Cloud account. Hilt applies a Terraform configuration to create the platform infrastructure in the account the customer nominates. The Hilt dashboard is a web application for investigation, detection rules, and administration, reached over private networking. The Hilt analytics database is a column store that holds normalized telemetry and findings. Hilt does not receive, mirror, or hold out-of-band access to customer events. The single exception is the anonymized data export, a core pipeline that transfers only anonymized statistical features after the customer's review and approval. A Hilt collector has exactly one outbound destination: the ingest endpoint, over HTTPS on TCP/443.[3]

Hilt collectors roll across a fleet, one per host, with no reboot, no inline tap, and nothing in front of the traffic. Hilt collectors run off the data path with no listening ports and one outbound rule, and cannot drop, delay, or alter a packet. Hilt operates the platform components in the customer's account, shipping releases, applying updates, and monitoring platform health. The Hilt auto-update agent runs as a Kubernetes CronJob in the customer's cluster. For airgapped environments, Hilt ships an offline bundle with the full artifact set.[4][5]

Hilt engineers do not hold standing access to the customer's environment. In the Hilt dashboard, teams constrain which hosts a user can see. Hilt records security-relevant actions to the audit log, which administrators manage.[1][2][5][6]

Hilt on the record

Sources

Hilt full record

  1. [1]hilt.aiHilt · hilt.ai · undated page, accessed November 6, 2026 · Tier A
  2. [2]Hilt | Data Movement Governance at the KernelHilt · undated page, accessed November 11, 2026 · Tier A
  3. [3]Architecture & data flow - Hilt DocumentationHilt · published October 8, 2026 · Tier A
  4. [4]The Hilt platform | Agentic Data Movement Governance at the kernelHilt · undated page, accessed November 11, 2026 · Tier A
  5. [5]Security operations - Hilt DocumentationHilt · published October 8, 2026 · Tier A
  6. [6]Access & identity - Hilt DocumentationHilt · published October 8, 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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