Thales launches data security tool amid AI access risk

Thales has launched CipherTrust Data Security Posture Management.

The product is aimed at organisations handling sensitive data as artificial intelligence systems and machine identities gain broader access to information.

The platform combines data discovery, risk analysis and protection tools in a single service. It is designed to help security teams identify exposed sensitive data, prioritise the most significant risks and apply protection measures without switching to separate systems.

It supports cloud, on-premises and hybrid environments, and covers both structured and unstructured data. Built-in workflows can apply encryption, tokenisation and masking, alongside policy enforcement and remediation steps linked to identified risks.

AI pressure

The launch comes as companies face growing difficulty tracking how data is used across cloud infrastructure, software-as-a-service applications, internal systems, analytics tools and third parties. The spread of AI assistants, applications and autonomous agents has added to that pressure by widening access paths to enterprise information and moving data into new repositories and workflows.

According to Thales, security teams increasingly need visibility not only into where sensitive data resides, but also into who or what can access it, how it is being used and which exposures present the highest risk. The platform is intended to go beyond access-based remediation by linking identified risks directly to data protection methods.

"Organisations don't need another security tool that simply gives them a longer list of problems to investigate," said Todd Moore, Vice President of Data Security Products, Thales.

"They need to understand which sensitive data is truly at risk and take direct action to reduce it. While traditional DSPM remediation often focuses on restricting who can access data, CipherTrust DSPM goes further by connecting risks to protections such as encryption and tokenization, helping protect the data itself rather than relying on permissions alone," Moore said.

Platform approach

Data security posture management tools help companies discover sensitive data and assess whether it is exposed through misconfigurations, excessive access rights or other weaknesses. Thales is positioning its offering around a broader model that combines discovery and classification with posture, access, activity and behavioural context.

AI-driven behavioural analytics are used to detect unusual access and activity, and to correlate signals into attack chains for investigation. Organisations can also use findings from the platform to govern data before AI deployments scale and to address supported access-control risks with remediation guidance.

That pitch reflects a wider shift in the cybersecurity market as vendors seek to show that security teams can do more than identify risk. Many customers are under pressure to demonstrate that they can reduce exposures quickly across fragmented technology estates, especially where data spans multiple environments and business units.

Customer view

Thales said the product builds on more than 30 years of work in data discovery, protection, key management, access control and activity analysis. It also pointed to demand from organisations connecting AI tools and agents to a growing share of their internal data.

One customer cited by Thales was Tokyo Electron Device, which works with enterprise clients on cybersecurity issues.

"Tokyo Electron Device works with enterprises to address increasingly complex cybersecurity challenges as these organizations connect AI tools and agents to more of their business data. CipherTrust DSPM's ease of deployment and the accuracy of its data classification enable us to help customers quickly understand where their sensitive data is, who or what can access it, and how to protect it, without slowing AI adoption. These capabilities provide significant value to customers looking to embrace AI while maintaining control of their most sensitive information," said Hiroji Sugito, Principal Data Security Engineer, Tokyo Electron Device.

Thales employs more than 85,000 people across 65 countries and reported sales of €22.1 billion in 2025.