CISO Tribune

Vendor comparison · 2 companies

Permiso vs Upwind

Permiso's Universal Identity Graph connects every identity to the credentials it owns, the machines it creates, the agents it runs and every action it takes in real time. Upwind sells security for cloud workloads, APIs and agents, combining their context with runtime intelligence to identify critical risks and catch new attacks in real time. CISO Tribune files both under Cloud detection and response. 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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  • Permiso
  • Upwind
Permiso vs Upwind: Products, Customers and Funding Compared
PermisoPermiso's Universal Identity Graph connects every identity to the credentials it owns, the machines it creates, the agents it runs and every action it takes in real time.permiso.ioUpwindUpwind sells security for cloud workloads, APIs and agents, combining their context with runtime intelligence to identify critical risks and catch new attacks in real time.upwind.io
What it sells
  • Permiso Discover[3]Provides an inventory of human, non-human and AI identities wherever they live.
  • Permiso Protect[3]Evaluates the risk posture of identities based on usage patterns, exposure and entitlements.
  • Universal Identity Graph[3][11]Connects every identity to the credentials it owns, the machines it creates and the agents it runs.
  • Identity Threat Detection and Response[7]Detects threats to human and non-human identities across environments.
  • Identity Runtime Attribution[3]Ties agent runs, events and tool calls to the identity behind them.
  • SandyClaw[11]Runs agent skills in a controlled sandbox.
  • Cloud Security[1]A CNAPP that combines posture, workload and runtime signals to find and prioritize cloud risks.
  • AI Security[8]Monitors AI workloads and agents within the cloud environment to identify risky configurations and behaviour.
  • Agentic Security[1][7]Watches autonomous AI agents and their skills or MCP connections for malicious or high-risk activity.
  • Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM)[1]Checks cloud account and resource configuration against security policy on an ongoing basis.
  • Cloud Infrastructure Entitlements Management (CIEM)[1]Analyses identity permissions across cloud platforms to reduce excess access.
  • Cloud Detection & Response (CDR)[1]Correlates runtime signals and cloud activity logs to detect and respond to threats as they occur.
Categories
Headquarters
Not stated on its pagesNot stated on its pages
Founded
Not stated on its pages2022[2][4]
Ownership and funding
Owned by Okta since 2026[2][5]Privately held[4][11]
Named customers
Not stated on its pagesNot stated on its pages
Recent news
  • July 30, 2026Okta said it signed a definitive agreement to acquire Permiso Security, a startup whose software detects attackers abusing identities across cloud, SaaS and AI agent environments.[14]
Not stated on its pages
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[11]
  • Gartner Peer Insights: Not stated on its pages
Who it fits
Its platform is described for identities across cloud, SaaS and on-prem environments. Permiso presents its tools to security teams. Its watchlist capability is aimed at threats from employees, contractors and other trusted individuals.Upwind's API offering is aimed at organizations that run APIs in the cloud. Upwind's AI security offering is aimed at organizations that run AI applications on cloud infrastructure. Upwind's code security features address teams practising shift-left security in AI-native development.
Last verified
November 2, 2026November 5, 2026

Where they overlap

  • Permiso and Upwind are both filed under Cloud detection and response.

Where they differ, field by field

  • Permiso's primary category is Identity threat detection and response; Upwind's is Cloud-native application protection (CNAPP).
  • Permiso is also filed under Non-human identity security. Upwind is also filed under Cloud security posture management and API security.
  • Permiso lists Permiso Discover, Permiso Protect, Universal Identity Graph, Identity Threat Detection and Response, Identity Runtime Attribution and 1 more. Upwind lists Cloud Security, AI Security, Agentic Security, Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM), Cloud Infrastructure Entitlements Management (CIEM) and 1 more.
  • Upwind was founded in 2022.
  • Permiso is owned by Okta, since 2026. Upwind is privately held.

What it sells: Permiso

What Permiso Discover does[3]
Permiso Discover gives enterprises an inventory of human, non-human and AI identities wherever they live. Permiso inventories identities and assesses exposure risk in identity providers, cloud service providers and SaaS applications.
What Permiso Protect does[3]
Permiso Protect continuously evaluates the risk posture of identities based on usage patterns, exposure and entitlements. Permiso Protect surfaces and quantifies high-risk identities, stale access and toxic combinations across human, vendor, AI and non-human accounts.
What Universal Identity Graph does[3][11]
The Universal Identity Graph connects every identity to the credentials it owns, the machines it creates, the agents it runs and every action it takes in real time. Permiso states that the chain stays unbroken from a human SSO login to a Lambda function to an MCP tool call. Permiso's Universal Identity Graph inventories identities in all cloud environments and assesses exposure risk.
What Identity Threat Detection and Response does[7]
Permiso provides identity threat detection and response for human and non-human identities across environments. The detection engine has 1500+ detection rules engineered by the P0 Labs team. Permiso detects access and behavioral anomalies in environments such as AWS, Azure, GCP, GitHub, Slack and Salesforce.
What Identity Runtime Attribution does[3]
Permiso launched AI agent runtime security, bringing Identity Runtime Attribution to every agent in production. Permiso ties every run, event and tool call to the identity behind it in real time. Every agent action is tied to a specific human, non-human or AI identity in real time and is preserved as a complete audit trail.
What SandyClaw does[11]
SandyClaw runs every skill in a controlled sandbox before it touches the environment. SandyClaw records every action, every tool call and every downstream request.

Questions about Permiso and Upwind

What do Permiso and Upwind sell?
Permiso sells Permiso Discover, Permiso Protect, Universal Identity Graph, Identity Threat Detection and Response, Identity Runtime Attribution and 1 more. Upwind sells Cloud Security, AI Security, Agentic Security, Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM), Cloud Infrastructure Entitlements Management (CIEM) and 1 more.
Are Permiso and Upwind in the same category?
They share Cloud detection and response. Permiso's primary category is Identity threat detection and response and Upwind's is Cloud-native application protection (CNAPP).
When were Permiso and Upwind founded?
Upwind was founded in 2022.
Who owns Permiso and Upwind?
Permiso is owned by Okta, since 2026. Upwind is privately held.
Who are Permiso and Upwind sold to?
Its platform is described for identities across cloud, SaaS and on-prem environments. Upwind's API offering is aimed at organizations that run APIs in the cloud.
What have Permiso and Upwind announced recently?
July 30, 2026: Okta said it signed a definitive agreement to acquire Permiso Security, a startup whose software detects attackers abusing identities across cloud, SaaS and AI agent environments.

About Permiso

Permiso's Universal Identity Graph connects every identity to the credentials it owns, the machines it creates, the agents it runs and every action it takes in real time. Permiso states that the chain stays unbroken from a human SSO login to a Lambda function to an MCP tool call.[3]

Permiso states that modern threat actors are compromising identity providers and moving across environments through cloud service providers, SaaS apps and CI/CD pipelines. Permiso's library of integrations tracks activity across cloud environments. Permiso identifies the gap in agent security as what happens after authentication, where IdPs go blind to every tool call, MCP invocation and sub-agent spawn.[3]

Permiso Discover gives enterprises an inventory of human, non-human and AI identities wherever they live. Permiso Protect continuously evaluates the risk posture of identities based on usage patterns, exposure and entitlements. Permiso Protect surfaces and quantifies high-risk identities, stale access and toxic combinations across human, vendor, AI and non-human accounts. Permiso's Universal Identity Graph inventories identities in all cloud environments and assesses exposure risk. Permiso describes removing zombie accounts and identities, including vendors, that are no longer active in an environment. Permiso shows where MFA is not used and monitors the age and rotation of password and access keys. Permiso provides visualizations of different ways threat actors could compromise identities to move laterally and gain access to sensitive data.[1][3][4][6]

Permiso provides identity threat detection and response for human and non-human identities across environments. Permiso's detection engine has 1500+ detection rules engineered by its P0 Labs team, which actively researches and monitors attacks in the wild. Permiso detects access and behavioral anomalies in environments such as AWS, Azure, GCP, GitHub, Slack and Salesforce. Permiso monitors activity and correlates user behavior to produce identity security alerts across AWS, Azure, Okta and M365. Permiso tracks the entire lifecycle of credentials, their privileges and posture, and all of the sessions in which those credentials were used and by what identity. Permiso's watchlist capability identifies and mitigates threats from employees, contractors and other trusted individuals who may pose security risks to the organization. Permiso monitors human and non-human identities for access and behavior anomalies in AWS, GitHub, Jira, Salesforce and Snowflake.[3][4][7][8]

Permiso defines non-human identities (NHIs) as any digital identity that authenticates and operates without direct human control. Permiso inventories human and non-human identities, including keys, tokens, service accounts, roles and groups. Permiso identifies orphaned, stale and overly permissive NHIs across cloud environments. Permiso provides a centralized dashboard to monitor NHIs. Permiso monitors the behavior of non-human identities and the humans using them to detect suspicious and malicious activity.[9][10]

Permiso ties every run, event and tool call to the identity behind it in real time across cloud, infrastructure, SaaS and on-prem environments. Permiso launched AI agent runtime security, bringing Identity Runtime Attribution to every agent in production. The Permiso platform gives security teams visibility into agent runs, tool calls and MCP invocations across the full agent lifecycle. Permiso finds agents in Lambda functions, containers and VMs, in the code repositories where they are defined, and behind the model endpoints where they execute. Permiso ties every agent action to a specific human, non-human or AI identity in real time. Permiso visualizes agent actions through the Universal Identity Graph and preserves them as a complete audit trail. SandyClaw runs every skill in a controlled sandbox before it touches the environment, recording every action, every tool call and every downstream request. Permiso's agent lifecycle covers discovering agents, attributing identity at runtime, detecting anomalies, sandboxing skills and enforcing controls, including kill switches. Autodesk is among the first enterprises to deploy the agent capabilities, securing AI agents across its products, workforce and cloud infrastructure.[1][3][4][11]

Permiso detects suspicious activity in Google Cloud Platform across Compute, Storage, App Engine, Secrets Manager, Logging, Network, SSO and IAM. Permiso monitors when GitHub repositories have been transferred outside the organization or updated to public. Permiso provides threat detection for 1Password's password management system. Permiso inventories users in Open AI and monitors their posture and corresponding risk. Permiso monitors only the control plane and is not exposed to any underlying or transaction data. Permiso encrypts control plane data at rest and in transit. ACV Auctions is a Permiso customer. Nutanix is a Permiso customer. Modern Health is a Permiso customer. Permiso states its mission as simplifying cloud security for technology and security professionals.[3][12][13]

Permiso on the record

Sources

Permiso full record

  1. [1]permiso.ioPermiso · permiso.io · undated page, accessed September 27, 2026 · Tier A
  2. [2]Okta signs definitive agreement to acquire permiso securityOkta · okta.com · published August 26, 2026 · Tier A
  3. [3]Detect and protect against human and non-human identity threats in real-timePermiso · undated page, accessed October 27, 2026 · Tier A
  4. [4]Identity Security Posture Management + Identity Threat Detection & ResponsePermiso · undated page, accessed October 27, 2026 · Tier A
  5. [5]Coverage across cloud environments to better secure the attack surfacePermiso · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  6. [6]Human and Non-Human Identity Inventory, Risk Posture and GovernancePermiso · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  7. [7]Identity Threat Detection and Response (ITDR) for Human and Non-Human IdentitiesPermiso · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  8. [8]How Permiso Detects Compromised Credentials In Your EnvironmentPermiso · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  9. [9]What Are Non-Human Identities? Complete Guide to NHI Security for 2025Permiso · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  10. [10]Non-Human Identity (NHI) Threat Detection and ResponsePermiso · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  11. [11]Secure Every AI Agent, Skill, and Action | PermisoPermiso · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  12. [12]Security - At Permiso, we don't take security lightlyPermiso · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  13. [13]Learn about how we make cloud zeros into cloud heroes | PermisoPermiso · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  14. [14]Okta to acquire Permiso Security in reported $200M identity security deal - SiliconANGLESiliconANGLE · published July 30, 2026 · Tier B

Upwind full record

  1. [1]upwind.ioUpwind · upwind.io · undated page, accessed November 5, 2026 · Tier A
  2. [2]NewsroomUpwind · upwind.io · undated page, accessed November 5, 2026 · Tier A
  3. [3]Upwind Security: Cloud & AI Security for the Realtime EraUpwind · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  4. [4]About - UpwindUpwind · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  5. [5]Upwind Case Studies: Real-World Cloud Security Success StoriesUpwind · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  6. [6]Run - UpwindUpwind · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  7. [7]Agentic Security - UpwindUpwind · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  8. [8]AI Security Platform - UpwindUpwind · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  9. [9]Runtime API Security: Discover and Protect APIs in Real TimeUpwind · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  10. [10]Build - UpwindUpwind · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  11. [11]Upwind Reviews 2026: Details, Pricing, & FeaturesG2 · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier C

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