BeyondTrust expands identity security insights to Australia

BeyondTrust has expanded its Identity Security Insights product to Australia, giving local customers a regionally hosted version of the service.

The rollout is aimed at organisations that need identity security tools hosted in Australia while meeting local operational and regulatory requirements. It comes as businesses face closer scrutiny over how they govern access across human users, machine identities and AI agents.

BeyondTrust is targeting sectors with strict compliance demands, including operators covered by Australia's Security of Critical Infrastructure Act. The service is also intended to support organisations working to meet requirements under APRA CPS 234 and the ASD Essential Eight.

The expansion reflects a broader shift in cyber security as companies contend with a sharp rise in non-human identities such as service accounts, secrets and machine credentials. Security vendors have increasingly focused on these identities as cloud use, automation and AI software create more accounts and access paths that do not belong to employees.

Those changes have made identity management more pressing for regulated industries, where boards and executives are expected to show evidence that access is controlled and monitored. In critical infrastructure, that pressure is heightened by the central role identity systems play in protecting operational technology, cloud services and software applications.

Regulatory focus

Australia's compliance environment has become more demanding for companies operating essential services, telecommunications, finance and energy networks. The Security of Critical Infrastructure Act requires entities to manage cyber risks, while prudential and cyber guidance has pushed businesses towards tighter control of privileged access and stronger visibility over who, or what, can reach sensitive systems.

BeyondTrust said its product is designed to give organisations visibility into the identity layer, which it described as a main route for attacks on critical infrastructure. The local deployment is intended to help customers maintain oversight of privileged access and identity-related risk across hybrid, cloud and software-as-a-service environments.

The service also includes monitoring for AI agents, an area drawing more attention as companies adopt software that can act with a degree of autonomy. Businesses are under growing pressure to understand what those agents can access, what actions they can take and whether controls match internal policy and external regulation.

Roshi Balendran, Regional Director, ANZ, BeyondTrust, linked the launch to those concerns.

"Australian enterprises are now running environments where machine identities, AI agents, and service accounts outnumber their human workforce and most have no real visibility over their access or capabilities. That is not a gap in their security strategy; it is a gap in their compliance posture," said Roshi Balendran, Regional Director, ANZ, BeyondTrust.

He also pointed to a tougher approach by regulators.

"Given recent action, including investigations and fines, by Australian regulators it is clear that they are no longer interested in intent, they want evidence of control. Organisations that can't demonstrate governance over non-human identities may be one incident away from material penalties," Balendran said.

Identity growth

The launch underlines how identity security is moving beyond traditional employee login management. In many large organisations, machine identities now outnumber staff accounts as software systems connect across cloud infrastructure, internal networks and third-party applications.

Each of those identities can carry permissions, credentials and privileged access. If they are not properly tracked, they can create shadow access routes that security teams struggle to detect. The challenge has become more complex as AI tools are introduced into workflows and begin to request or receive access to business systems.

BeyondTrust said Identity Security Insights is part of its broader Pathfinder platform, which combines identity discovery, intelligence and control across hybrid, cloud, SaaS and operational technology environments. The product is intended to help customers discover non-human identities at scale, identify risk and act on threats linked to privileged access.

BeyondTrust did not disclose customer numbers for the Australian service. Globally, it said it serves 20,000 customers, including 75 of the Fortune 100.

The Australian expansion is another example of security suppliers adapting their products to local hosting and compliance requirements as regulators place more emphasis on proof of governance, especially where AI systems and machine identities have direct or indirect access to critical systems.