Palo Alto Networks is negotiating to acquire Clutch Security, a three-year-old Israeli startup, for about $500 million in talks that could still fall apart, according to The Information. Clutch makes software that keeps track of the passwords and authentication codes companies’ AI agents use, and it has raised over $20 million. The deal would be Palo Alto’s fifth announced acquisition this year, after its $25 billion purchase of CyberArk, whose identity security products were built mostly around human logins rather than AI agents. Identity security rivals have been buying similar startups, with Okta acquiring Permiso Security in August and SailPoint acquiring Entro Security in June.
