Microsoft unveils tools that treat AI agents as potential insider threats

Microsoft on Monday announced security features that continuously assess the risk of each AI agent a business runs, based on signals such as what data it can reach and whether its actions are drifting from its task. When risk rises, the system can remove an agent’s ability to make changes while still letting it read data, require a person to approve a high-stakes step, or shut the agent down.

The Redmond company is also expanding detection of agents running on employees’ computers to 60 types, up from 25, including Claude Code, OpenAI’s Codex and GitHub Copilot, and adding “Guardian Agents” to its Project Perception security system to investigate and contain risky agents.

The features are part of Microsoft 365 E7, which costs US$99 per user per month, and are in private preview, with broader availability planned for the Ignite conference in San Francisco, Nov. 17–19. They build on CEO Satya Nadella’s argument that controls on AI must come from outside the models.