US Firm Kiteworks Acquires Israeli Data Security Startup Bonfy.AI

American company Kiteworks has acquired Israeli startup Bonfy.AI, which developed technology to protect sensitive information during its use or transmission, including by humans, AI assistants, and autonomous agents. The core concept behind Bonfy's technology is that simply knowing where sensitive data is stored is insufficient; the primary risk arises when data begins to be sent or used. Bonfy analyzes content in real-time, for instance, before an email, file, ChatGPT response, or other AI agent is sent. It considers not only the content but also the context, such as the sender, recipient, communication channel, relationship between parties, and adherence to company business rules. If an action violates security policy, the system can halt it before completion. To understand this context, Bonfy constructs an adaptive knowledge graph by integrating information from CRM, identity management systems, HR databases, and other corporate sources. This mechanism applies equally to a human sending an attachment and an AI agent receiving data, formulating a response, or forwarding information to another system. The technology is compatible with Microsoft 365 Copilot, Claude, ChatGPT, enterprise AI agents, email, SaaS services, and cloud storage.

Bonfy was founded by cybersecurity veterans Gidi Cohen and Danny Kibel. Cohen previously founded and led Skybox Security, while Kibel was CEO of Idaptive and later led global R&D at CyberArk after its acquisition. In 2024, Bonfy raised $9.5 million from TLV Partners and Saban Ventures. The terms of the current acquisition have not been officially disclosed, but CTech estimates Kiteworks paid tens of millions of dollars for the startup.