Zscaler Buys Symmetry Systems

Zscaler has announced its proposed acquisition of San Francisco-based startup Symmetry Systems to tackle the complex security risks associated with artificial intelligence, identities, and cloud data. Founded in 2019 by University of Texas professor Mohit Tiwari, the startup has raised $35.7 million in funding. The acquisition aims to solve a critical visibility gap in enterprise environments, where tracking multi-channel AI risk across disconnected security tools remains highly complex.

According to Dhawal Sharma, Zscaler’s Executive Vice President of AI Security, traditional enterprise security operations rely on disparate datasets like endpoint agents, inline traffic monitors, and public cloud scans. Organizations frequently struggle to connect these separate channels to understand total AI exposure. Symmetry Systems bridges this crucial gap using specialized access graph technology to map data relationships across various IT silos.

Symmetry's access graph platform unifies these disconnected systems by mapping the precise relationships and lineage among human identities, SaaS applications, data pipelines, and AI models. By clustering these complex interactions into smaller, highly contextualized environments, the platform enables organizations to pinpoint anomalies more effectively. This unique approach allows enterprises to quickly translate raw graph data into actionable security intelligence.

Managing non-human and agentic identities is a primary driver behind the acquisition, as AI workflows constantly create new permission structures between autonomous agents and APIs. Sharma noted that securing autonomous entities is difficult because access is traditionally tied strictly to either a human identity or a service principal. Symmetry’s deep visibility into cross-platform Identity and Access Management (IAM) allows organizations to build much finer authorization controls.

Moving forward, Zscaler plans to absorb Symmetry's technology into its broader zero-trust architecture to establish a unified framework for AI lineage. Integrating this new telemetry will provide higher-fidelity alerts, reduce false positives, and streamline incident triage for security operations teams. The move follows Zscaler's long-term strategy of integrating specialized startup capabilities into its core platform features.