Lock Down Supplier Access and AI Supplier Controls in Cloud Environments

Third-party access follows the same pattern, and the risk shows up differently depending on where you look: On-premises and OT environments: contractor accounts provisioned for a specific project, rarely tied to a hard end date, and rarely revoked when the work finishes

A current, accurate answer to "which third parties can access what, right now" - not a list that was accurate when it was last updated, whenever that was

Where to start The starting point is the same regardless of whether your environment is on-prem, hybrid, or fully cloud: a current inventory of every third party with access to your systems, what they can reach, and whether that access is still tied to active, necessary work. For most operators, that inventory reveals more than expected - not because of any single dramatic gap, but because vendor access, unlike staff access, rarely gets swept up in routine reviews

Among respondents in Australia and New Zealand, 69 per cent said others in their AI value chain were trying to pass on liability. Another 60 per cent said their commercial strategy relied on AI suppliers over whom they had no oversight or audit authority

"The research shows ANZ businesses are already reviewing contracts to limit liability

The survey of 975 senior decision-makers across 13 markets also identified gaps in supplier oversight, contractual protections and internal governance, suggesting enthusiasm for AI adoption is outpacing some organisations' control frameworks. Among respondents in Australia and New Zealand, 69 per cent said others in their AI value chain were trying to pass on liability

AI access AI agents are taking on a wider role in enterprise environments, where they can authenticate to applications and infrastructure, access data, and carry out tasks across multiple systems. That creates a new security problem for companies that have traditionally managed access around employees and managed devices

The controls apply to all identities, including human users and non-human identities such as AI agents

Portnox has added controls that let enterprises block or revoke network access for risky AI agents. The update includes a new integration with Microsoft Defender

For managed detection and response providers, analyst recognition can play an important role in winning larger enterprise contracts, especially in overseas markets where customers may be less familiar with newer or regionally founded vendors

LMNTRIX has been named a Major Player in the 2026 IDC MarketScape for worldwide MDR and MXDR services for enterprises, placing the Australian-founded cyber security company alongside larger global technology and services groups. The ranking marks the latest step in LMNTRIX's progress in analyst assessments, after it was previously named a Leader in IDC's 2024 review of emerging managed detection and response services

The company says the model is also designed to help customers simplify operations and manage total cost of ownership while retaining flexibility to change security controls as risks evolve. Those arguments are likely to resonate with organisations under pressure to reduce the complexity of security estates built up through years of point-product purchasing