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Oktsec compared with context firewalls and agent governance platforms

Prospects who have talked to a context firewall or an agent governance platform ask the same question. What is the difference? This page answers it from public materials only, vendor by vendor, with a review date.

  • Vendors named.
  • Public materials only.
  • Reviewed September 3, 2026.

The problem has three layersWhat an agent reads, what it decides and what it does. A control can sit at any of the three. Only the last one stops an action.

Where most of the market worksInput and posture. Filters for what the agent consumes, guardrails around the model, discovery and risk scores for what exists. Useful. None of it decides what the agent is allowed to do.

Where Oktsec worksThe action and the proof. A signed policy decides before the action runs, inside your environment, and the record can be verified offline by an auditor, a regulator or a customer.

Capability by capability.

Read down a row to see who states a capability. A cell is Yes only when the vendor states it in public materials. Partial means an adjacent claim, explained in the notes. Not stated means we did not find it. Never "they cannot".

CapabilityOktsecAIRZenityNoma SecurityOperant AIOkta for AI AgentsPalo Alto Prisma AIRSCrowdStrike Falcon Guardian
The security platform for AI agent workThe Context Firewall for AI Agents, out of stealth Sep 1 2026 with $50MAI Agent Security and Governance PlatformAI Security Platform for LLMs, RAG and AI AgentsReal-time security platform for AI, Agents and MCPGovern agentic identity from a single control planeAI security platform, Agent Security Platform since 3.0AI Detection and Response, launched Sep 1 2026
Authorizes the actionAuthorizes the agent action, not only the inputStated by 7 of 8OktsecYes1AIRYes8ZenityYes12Noma SecurityYes18Operant AIYes23Okta for AI AgentsYes29Palo Alto Prisma AIRSYes34CrowdStrike Falcon GuardianPartial41
Deterministic decisionDeterministic decision, no LLM in the pathOnly Oktsec states this publiclyOktsecYes2AIRNot statedZenityPartial13Noma SecurityNot statedOperant AINot stated24Okta for AI AgentsPartial30Palo Alto Prisma AIRSNot stated35CrowdStrike Falcon GuardianNot stated42
Signed policyPolicy signed with cryptographic identityOnly Oktsec states this publiclyOktsecYes3AIRNot statedZenityNot statedNoma SecurityNot statedOperant AINot statedOkta for AI AgentsNot statedPalo Alto Prisma AIRSPartial36CrowdStrike Falcon GuardianNot stated43
Offline verifiable evidenceEvidence verifiable offline, hash chainedOnly Oktsec states this publiclyOktsecYes4AIRNot statedZenityNot stated14Noma SecurityPartial19Operant AIPartial25Okta for AI AgentsPartial31Palo Alto Prisma AIRSPartial37CrowdStrike Falcon GuardianNot stated
Local enforcementLocal enforcement, no inbound access, data stays in your environmentStated by 3 of 8OktsecYes5AIRPartial9ZenityPartial15Noma SecurityYes20Operant AIYes26Okta for AI AgentsNot stated32Palo Alto Prisma AIRSPartial38CrowdStrike Falcon GuardianPartial44
Validation before deploymentPaid validation before deployment as the entry pointStated by 3 of 8OktsecYes6AIRNot stated10ZenityPartial16Noma SecurityPartial21Operant AIPartial27Okta for AI AgentsNot statedPalo Alto Prisma AIRSYes39CrowdStrike Falcon GuardianYes45
Inventory per user and machineInventory of MCP servers, skills, plugins, subagents and hooks per user and machineStated by 2 of 8OktsecYes7AIRPartial11ZenityPartial17Noma SecurityPartial22Operant AIYes28Okta for AI AgentsPartial33Palo Alto Prisma AIRSPartial40CrowdStrike Falcon GuardianPartial46
Yes stated in the vendor's public materialsPartial an adjacent claim, explained in the notesNot stated not found at the review dateNumbers link to the notes below. Last reviewed September 3, 2026. Report a correction

In one paragraph.

The same table as prose, generated from the same data, so a buyer, an analyst or an answer engine can quote it with its date.

As of September 3, 2026, across 8 vendors reviewed from public materials, only Oktsec states deterministic decision, signed policy and offline verifiable evidence.

  • Authorizes the action is stated by Oktsec, AIR, Zenity, Noma Security, Operant AI, Okta for AI Agents and Palo Alto Prisma AIRS.
  • Local enforcement is stated by Oktsec, Noma Security and Operant AI.
  • Validation before deployment is stated by Oktsec, Palo Alto Prisma AIRS and CrowdStrike Falcon Guardian.
  • Inventory per user and machine is stated by Oktsec and Operant AI.

Questions buyers ask.

Short answers, the same ones on the home page, marked up as FAQ for search and answer engines.

How is Oktsec different from a context firewall?
Filters inspect what an agent reads. Oktsec authorizes what an agent does, with signed policy, and records proof. They can coexist.
Does an LLM ever make the security decision?
No. A signed policy bundle decides. A model can recommend. It cannot authorize.
Can we verify the evidence without Oktsec Cloud?
Yes. The trail is hash chained and signed. You verify it with the public key, offline.
Is this table fair to the other vendors?
Each cell reflects what the vendor states in its own public materials at the review date, with a verbatim quote and a link. Partial means an adjacent claim. Not stated means we did not find it. We never write "they cannot". Corrections are welcome and move the review date.

Notes and sources.

Every marked cell links to the vendor's own page. Quotes are verbatim and trimmed. If a vendor publishes new material, the table changes and the review date moves.

  1. OktsecThe security platform for AI agent workNotes 1 to 7
    1. 1
      Authorizes the actionApprove what agents can do before they act. Deterministic local enforcement.oktsec.com
    2. 2
      Deterministic decisionEnforcement is deterministic. A model can recommend. It cannot authorize.oktsec.com
    3. 3
      Signed policyA signed policy bundle is distributed to enrolled environments.oktsec.com
    4. 4
      Offline verifiable evidenceoktsec audit verify-chain: verifies the SHA-256 hash chain and optional Ed25519 proxy signatures.github.com
    5. 5
      Local enforcementExecution stays inside the customer environment. Approved environments can pull signed policy, apply it locally and return evidence.oktsec.com
    6. 6
      Validation before deploymentFind the attack paths in one agent workflow before production. Fixed scope, reproducible.oktsec.com
    7. 7
      Inventory per user and machineOktsec Control finds every MCP server, skill, plugin, hook and subagent on every machine, by user, across 17 AI clients.Product page claim. The open source README documents MCP server discovery across 17 clients and NanoClaw allowlist audits.oktsec.com
  2. AIRThe Context Firewall for AI Agents, out of stealth Sep 1 2026 with $50MNotes 8 to 11
    1. 8
      Authorizes the actionAIR's runtime layer decides what an agent may do and enforces it action by action.Hero positions AIR as a firewall on what enters the context; the AIR Defend tier claims action by action enforcement.air.security
    2. 9
      Local enforcementprotecting their context across endpoint, cloud, and SaaSCoverage across endpoint, cloud and SaaS stated. No on premises, self hosted or data locality claim; AWS Marketplace listing only.air.security
    3. 10
      Validation before deploymentEntry points are a free self serve add on scan and a demo.
    4. 11
      Inventory per user and machinethe workspaces and users that are active, how their configurations drift, and where real usage departs from the policy you set.Per user and workspace inventory stated. Per machine not stated.air.security
  3. ZenityAI Agent Security and Governance PlatformNotes 12 to 17
    1. 12
      Authorizes the actionevaluates every agent action in real time against rules of an organization and decides to let it through, block it, or shut the agent downzenity.io
    2. 13
      Deterministic decisionZenity lets platform and security teams set contextual, deterministic policy for coding and personal agentsStates deterministic policy for coding agents; also markets intent aware detection and AI authored rules. No claim that no model sits in the decision path.zenity.io
    3. 14
      Offline verifiable evidenceClosest public wording: every rule is reversible and audited.
    4. 15
      Local enforcementthrough native agent hooks and the Zenity MCP gateway, it can block or modify a dangerous tool call before it executes.Enforcement hooks run on the device; the platform is positioned as SaaS and agentless. No on premises or air gapped deployment stated.zenity.io
    5. 16
      Validation before deployment10 free, open-source tools to help security teams to identify and understand immediate risksFree self serve assessment toolkit, not a paid engagement.zenity.io
    6. 17
      Inventory per user and machineEvery Claude Enterprise install, MCP server, skill, plugin, and connected extension is inventoried and assessed against policy.Subagents, hooks and explicit per machine attribution not stated.zenity.io
  4. Noma SecurityAI Security Platform for LLMs, RAG and AI AgentsNotes 18 to 22
    1. 18
      Authorizes the actionenforce policies at the moment a connection or action is attemptednoma.security
    2. 19
      Offline verifiable evidenceNoma records every prompt, response, tool call, and enforcement action, providing a complete audit trailAudit trail stated. No hash chain or offline verification claim.noma.security
    3. 20
      Local enforcementSupport for both on-prem and SaaS deployments ensuring ... no model, training data or security events leave your environment.noma.security
    4. 21
      Validation before deploymentAI Red Teaming gives development teams a way to validate AI security before models and agents reach runtime.Automated red teaming product, not a paid pre deployment service.noma.security
    5. 22
      Inventory per user and machineNoma discovers every agent, MCP server, and skill on employee endpoints through your existing EDR or MDMAgents, MCP servers and skills per machine. Plugins, hooks and subagents not stated.noma.security
  5. Operant AIReal-time security platform for AI, Agents and MCPNotes 23 to 28
    1. 23
      Authorizes the actioninspects every AI-generated command, script, and shell call on the device, blocking malicious payloads, prompt-injected commands, and unsanctioned package installs before they run.operant.ai
    2. 24
      Deterministic decisionPublic materials describe intent classified with Operant's own models against natural language policies.
    3. 25
      Offline verifiable evidenceAI governance that can be evidenced to an auditor rather than attested to on a vendor's behalf.Audit ready evidence stated. No hash chain or offline verification claim.operant.ai
    4. 26
      Local enforcementOnly one outgoing HTTPS trusted connection from a customer environment's local Operant controller to Operant cloudoperant.ai
    5. 27
      Validation before deploymentCredits fully toward first-year subscriptionPaid pilot credited to subscription. Red teaming (Woodpecker) is open source and free.operant.ai
    6. 28
      Inventory per user and machineMaps each tool to user, device, business unit, and risk scoreSubagents and hooks not mentioned.operant.ai
  6. Okta for AI AgentsGovern agentic identity from a single control planeNotes 29 to 33
    1. 29
      Authorizes the actionwhen an agent calls a tool, it validates the agent's identity and the user behind it, checks the policies governing that agent, and brokers a short-lived credential at runtime.Agent Gateway is a research release as of July 2026, Okta hosted.okta.com
    2. 30
      Deterministic decisionDeterministic governance: Policy engines defining what an agent can and cannot access. ... Non-deterministic governance: Real-time signals driving dynamic policy decisionsPromotes both deterministic and behavioral signals in decisions.okta.com
    3. 31
      Offline verifiable evidenceEvery tool call, access attempt, and authorization decision is recorded ... Stream telemetry to your SIEMSystem log and SIEM stream. No hash chain or offline verification claim.okta.com
    4. 32
      Local enforcementAgent Gateway runs as an Okta hosted endpoint in the path.
    5. 33
      Inventory per user and machineDetect shadow AI agents by identifying new OAuth consent grants in managed Chrome browsersAgent discovery via OAuth grants. MCP servers, skills, plugins, hooks per machine not stated.okta.com
  7. Palo Alto Prisma AIRSAI security platform, Agent Security Platform since 3.0Notes 34 to 40
    1. 34
      Authorizes the actionGain centralized control of tool calls, LLM interactions, and Model Context Protocol (MCP) connectionspaloaltonetworks.com
    2. 35
      Deterministic decisionDetection is marketed as AI powered.
    3. 36
      Signed policyPrisma AIRS securely stores the signing secret in an encrypted edge Key-Value Map (KVM) to cryptographically verify the authenticity of every incoming requestRequest signing for the Claude inference hook integration, not signed policy bundles.paloaltonetworks.com
    4. 37
      Offline verifiable evidenceAgent Identity Security assigns each agent a governed identity with precise permissions and full traceability, ensuring actions are attributable and enforceable.Audit trails in Strata Logging Service. No hash chain or offline verification claim.paloaltonetworks.com
    5. 38
      Local enforcementScans run locally, so sensitive data never leaves your control.Applies to Model Security scans. Runtime API Intercept, Managed MCP Server and AI Gateway are cloud delivered.paloaltonetworks.com
    6. 39
      Validation before deploymentUnit 42 AI Security Assessment provides visibility and security best practices to support responsible AI use and development within your organization.Consultant led, program level. Not framed as a per agent pre deployment gate.paloaltonetworks.com
    7. 40
      Inventory per user and machineMapping enterprise agents across cloud and SaaS environments, endpoint agents (including vibe coding agents) running on developer systems and browser-based agents.Agents and MCP servers. No per user and per machine attribution, no subagents or hooks stated.paloaltonetworks.com
  8. CrowdStrike Falcon GuardianAI Detection and Response, launched Sep 1 2026Notes 41 to 46
    1. 41
      Authorizes the actionDefines which AI agents are permitted to run on managed endpoints, blocking unauthorized agents and translating governance policy into enforceable runtime controls.Allow or block at the agent level plus detection driven containment. Per action tool call authorization not stated; the AI gateway is pre beta. Sep 2 2026: the Agentic Identity Provider, still in development, brokers tokens scoped to the minimum access for the minimum time per task.crowdstrike.com
    2. 42
      Deterministic decisionLeads with 99% detection efficacy, a model style metric. The Sep 2 2026 identity provider describes real time, risk aware enforcement replacing static policies. Not stated as deterministic.
    3. 43
      Signed policyThe Agentic Identity Provider announced Sep 2 2026 issues cryptographically verifiable agent identities, in development. The policy itself is not stated as signed.
    4. 44
      Local enforcementdelivering complete visibility and runtime enforcement from the endpoint, where AI agents execute and across the enterprise.Cloud managed sensor on the endpoint. No on premises, air gapped or data residency claim.crowdstrike.com
    5. 45
      Validation before deploymentSimulate how adversaries target LLMs, copilots, and AI agents. Identify weaknesses and improve resilience with hands-on testing and adversary-modeled scenarios.AI Security Services; not positioned as the entry point for Guardian.crowdstrike.com
    6. 46
      Inventory per user and machineAutomatically discovers AI applications, agents, LLM runtimes, MCP servers, and development tools running across endpointsAgents and MCP servers per endpoint. Skills, plugins, hooks and subagents not stated.crowdstrike.com

Vendor names and marks belong to their owners. No vendor named on this page reviewed or endorsed it. Every cell reflects that vendor's own public materials on the review date. Vendors change their materials, so read this as a dated snapshot, not a verdict. Corrections from a vendor are applied within two business days. Send a correction.

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