Tenable Holdings, Inc., the leader in exposure management, has announced its intention to acquire Apex Security, Inc., a fast-growing innovator in securing the evolving AI-driven threat landscape. The acquisition is expected to significantly bolster Tenable’s ability to help organizations proactively identify, manage, and reduce cyber risks amid the accelerating adoption of artificial intelligence technologies.
With the rapid proliferation of generative AI tools, autonomous systems, and AI-powered applications, organizations are facing an unprecedented expansion of their attack surfaces. Emerging risks range from shadow AI deployments and AI-generated code to synthetic identities and uncontrolled cloud services. In response, Tenable introduced Tenable AI Aware in 2024 — a solution that already helps thousands of enterprises detect and assess AI usage across their ecosystems.
By integrating Apex Security’s advanced capabilities, Tenable will take a major step forward in providing comprehensive governance, policy enforcement, and risk control over both commercial AI tools in use and custom-built AI models. This strategic acquisition aligns with Tenable’s vision of delivering scalable and unified exposure management, particularly as businesses increasingly rely on AI.
“AI dramatically expands the attack surface, introducing dynamic, fast-moving risks most organizations aren’t prepared for,” said Steve Vintz, Co-CEO and CFO, Tenable. “Tenable’s strategy has always been to stay ahead of attack surface expansion — not just managing exposures, but eliminating them before they can be exploited.”
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“As organizations move quickly to adopt AI, many recognize that now is the moment to get ahead of the risk — before large-scale attacks materialize,” said Mark Thurmond, Co-CEO, Tenable. “Apex delivers the visibility, context, and control security teams need to reduce AI-generated exposure proactively. It will be a powerful addition to the Tenable One platform and a perfect fit for our preemptive approach to cybersecurity.”
Founded in 2023, Apex Security quickly gained traction with CISOs and leading investors, including Sam Altman (OpenAI), Clem Delangue (Hugging Face), Sequoia Capital, and Index Ventures. The company established itself as a pioneer in AI risk management by enabling organizations to secure AI usage across development environments and daily business operations — ensuring usage transparency, policy compliance, and scalable risk mitigation.
“The AI attack surface is deeply intertwined with everything else organizations are already securing. Treating it as part of exposure management is the most strategic approach. We’re excited to join forces with Tenable to help customers manage AI risk in context — not as a silo, but as part of their broader environment,” said Matan Derman, CEO and Co-Founder of Apex Security.
The acquisition underscores Tenable’s commitment to innovation and its mission to empower organizations with the tools needed to stay ahead of modern cybersecurity threats — especially in an era where AI technologies are both opportunity and risk.