AppGuard Critiques AI Hyped Defenses; Expands its Insider Release for its Next-Generation Platform

MCLEAN, Va., Jan. 15, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- A new Top 10 Cybersecurity Innovators profile by AppGuard has been released, spotlighting growing concerns over AI-enhanced malware. AI makes malware even more difficult to detect. Worse, they use AI to assess, adapt, and move faster than any cyber stack can keep up.

The report advocates for a fundamental change in approach, highlighting the limitations of reactive security measures. Rather than constantly adding or changing detection layers of cyber stacks, the profile emphasizes the importance of reducing endpoint attack surface—a perspective that challenges conventional industry practices.

The Detection Gap Crisis: Why "Magic AI" Fails

CEO Fatih Comlekoglu mentions that "You can't keep trying to tell good from bad among infinite possibilities. Not even the most magical AI can parse infinity."

The industry is trapped in a futile chase, piling on detection tools and adding AI enhancements that still fail to close the foundational gap. In fact, enterprises now face an overwhelming flood of alerts, with many organizations reportedly beginning to limit the amount of data they ingest simply because they can no longer keep up.

The New Threat: Lateral Movement at the Speed of AI

Once remote control is established on an endpoint, adversarial AI reportedly adjusts the malicious process's activities in real-time to evade detection and adapt to the environment. This dramatically shortens the time defenders have to respond and exacerbates flaws in detection-based security that depend on human approvals or interventions.

Every Cyber Stack Needs a "Default-Deny" Layer

AI cannot parse infinity; AI can only parse what it can, faster. Instead of joining the futile chase, "default-deny" or Zero Trust enforced within endpoints shrinks the attack surface. By restricting what can run and what the running can do, attacks run into walls, regardless of disguise or AI acceleration. The concept is akin to football: shrink the adversary's "playing field" as well as its "playbook". 

Many controls-based layers can theoretically shrink the attack surface to some degree but few do so practically, thoroughly, and without considerable friction. AppGuard does this with 10 to 100 times fewer policy rules than alternatives. Even better, it uniquely auto-adapts to endpoint changes and malware technique variations. Fewer rules and fewer rules changes equate to easier operations and greater efficacy against malware, even AI-guided malware.

AI is Not Detection Magic, But it is Helpful

While AI is increasingly promoted as a breakthrough in cybersecurity, it remains a form of advanced pattern matching—subject to the same limitations as traditional detection methods. AppGuard affirms that it does not rely on AI for malware detection. Instead, the company sees AI enhancing its controls-based approach to endpoint protection. This includes improving attack surface management, minimizing disruption to legitimate workflows, and providing clearer visibility into policy enforcement and blocked events.

ANNOUNCING: Expanded Insider Release for Veteran Operators

Following recognition in the recent cybersecurity innovators profile, AppGuard has reopened its Insider Release program. The initiative seeks experienced endpoint security professionals—particularly those at MSSPs and MSPs managing multiple client environments—to provide hands-on feedback on AppGuard's upcoming reengineered endpoint protection platform.

Selected participants will have early access to deploy the newly architected lightweight agent in combination with AppGuard's new cloud-based management console.

Seats are limited and reserved for qualified teams with proven operational experience. Readers apply here. Selected participants receive: early access to the new agent and cloud console and direct influence on final features and roadmap priorities.

Resources

• AppGuard Home Page
• Read the December 2025 industry profile
• Video overviewing AppGuard
• Apply for the Insider Release

Adding AppGuard Anywhere: Proven Effectiveness and Pragmatism 

Adding AppGuard to ANY cyber stack to stop what other layers miss entirely or detect too late: zero-days, ransomware, process injection, credential theft, info-stealers, living-off-the-land techniques. 

AppGuard's effectiveness is not theoretical. It has been proven repeatedly in the field for very large organizations to very small. For example, one of the world's largest airlines, managing more than 40,000 endpoints, had been plagued by weekly malware incidents despite deploying multiple high-end cybersecurity solutions. After implementing AppGuard in 2019, the organization has experienced no successful malware breaches—a testament to the product's real-world impact. Small businesses appreciate its easy deployment and the resulting end-user productivity.

About AppGuard

AppGuard is the real-time, controls-based endpoint protection layer that stops what detection tools miss entirely or detect too late. It extends Zero Trust principles into the endpoint itself—down to the computing process—filling a critical gap where traditional Zero Trust models treat the endpoint as a black box. Adding it to any cyber stack delivers enterprise-grade protection with dramatically fewer rules, far less tuning, and far less operational overhead. AppGuard is ideal for both smaller organizations and large enterprises tired of spending fortunes on porous, alert-heavy defenses that still fail.

Contact

Marketing
Eirik Iverson
AppGuard Inc
[email protected] 

Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2862791/AppGuard.jpg

SOURCE AppGuard