Welcome back to the Trident Radar!

February 2026 will be remembered as the month cybersecurity M&A went nuclear. Palo Alto acquired CyberArk for $26.2 billion, the largest pure-play cybersecurity deal in history, then followed up weeks later with KOI for $400 million. Check Point went on an Israeli acquisition spree, snapping up three startups in a single week. And the funding markets showed renewed confidence, with over $700 million deployed across the sector.

But the month's final act overshadowed everything: the Trump administration banned Anthropic from all federal contracts, designated it a "supply chain risk," and OpenAI swooped in to take the Pentagon deal hours later. The implications for AI, cybersecurity, and the relationship between tech companies and government are still unfolding.

Let's dive in.

21 days until RSA 2026!!

Trident will be on the ground throughout the week. Here is where to find us:

The Harlequin (Monday 23 and Wednesday 25) We are hosting sponsor meetings at The Harlequin, 9am-4pm on Monday and Wednesday. Ocean Security, Tidal Cyber, and Reveal are sponsoring. If you are a CISO, founder, or exec looking to connect with vendors in a more relaxed setting than the Moscone floor, reach out to book time.

Cyber Startup Expo (Monday 23) We are sponsoring alongside Dreamit Ventures, Blu Ventures, DataTribe, and Carnegie Mellon CyLab. Our own Charlee Ryman will be moderating a panel on leveraging the channel.

Cyber VIP Reception (Monday 23, 5-8pm) Co-hosted by Merlin Ventures, Evolution, and Lightspeed. We are one of the sponsors alongside AWS and Davis Polk. Trident team will be there networking.

CISO Karaoke Yes, it is happening. Look out for our digital ad van circling the city on Monday promoting the event.

If you are heading to RSA and want to connect, drop us a line!

In our latest Trident Talks, Rosie Larter sat down with Ron Peled & Guy Flechter, Co-Founders of Sola Security - two leaders with 25 years in the trenches, from military service to CISO seats, to building, and exiting, companies.

UpGuard, Later Stage VC, $105M
Third-party risk and attack surface management platform combining security ratings, assessment questionnaires, and threat intelligence.

Category: Third-Party Risk Management / Attack Surface Management
HQ: Mountain View, CA

Zafran, Later Stage VC, $60M
AI-driven vulnerability risk assessment with agentic workflow for accelerated mitigation and remediation.

Category: Vulnerability Management / AI Security
HQ: New York, NY

Gambit Security, Series A, $56M
Digital system protection for business continuity control over cloud infrastructure. Monitors systems, tracks changes, checks recovery points, maps connections.

Category: Cloud Security / Business Continuity
HQ: Tel Aviv, Israel

GitGuardian, Series C, $50M (Insight Partners)
Secrets detection at scale. Machine learning-powered monitoring across version control systems, DevOps tools, and infrastructure-as-code.

Category: Secrets Detection / DevSecOps
HQ: Paris, France

Nimble, Later Stage VC, $47M
Web data automation platform for data gathering at scale. Encrypted data collection with robust compliance.

Category: Web Data / Compliance
HQ: New York, NY

Cogent Security, Series A, $42M (Bain Capital, Greylock)
Autonomous agents that investigate and remediate cybersecurity vulnerabilities.

Category: AI Security Agents / Vulnerability Remediation
HQ: San Francisco, CA

RapidFort, Later Stage VC, $42M (Forgepoint Capital, Blue Cloud Ventures)
Software attack surface optimisation. Reduces vulnerability and patch management backlog with AI-powered risk management.

Category: Software Attack Surface Optimisation
HQ: Sunnyvale, CA

Astelia, Series A, $35M + $10M Seed
Exposure management platform with AI-native software that maps network topology and uses agentic AI to analyse vulnerabilities.

Category: Exposure Management / AI Security
HQ: New York, NY

Orion Security, Series A, $32M (Norwest Venture Partners)
AI-powered data security and breach prevention. Comprehensive threat detection, risk management, and compliance tools.

Category: AI Data Security / Breach Prevention
HQ: Tel Aviv, Israel

RADICL, Series A, $31M (Paladin Capital)
Military-grade cybersecurity for SMBs. Defence-grade security for companies serving national security interests.

Category: Military-Grade SMB Cybersecurity
HQ: Boulder, CO

Prophet Security, Series A, $30M
AI-powered security operations platform. Analyses and synthesises alerts, develops investigation plans.

Category: AI SOC / Security Operations
HQ: Atherton, CA

Reco, Series B, $30M (Zeev Ventures)
Dynamic SaaS security platform. Full lifecycle coverage from discovery to detection and response.

Category: SaaS Security / SSPM
HQ: Altamonte Springs, FL

Tharros, Venture Funding, $30M (Blue Delta Capital Partners)
Intelligence analysis and cyber-operations support for government agencies and commercial organisations.

Category: Cyber Operations / Government Services
HQ: Fulton, MD

ThreatAware, PE Growth, $25M
Cyber asset management platform. Uses API feeds from existing tools to validate controls across every cyber asset.

Category: Cyber Asset Management
HQ: London, UK

Venice, Series A, $25M (IVP)
Privileged access management for the AI era. Replaces static access workflows with live, policy-driven decisions.

Category: Privileged Access Management / Identity Security
HQ: Tel Aviv, Israel

VulnCheck, Series B, $25M (Sorenson Capital)
Threat intelligence platform helping organisations close the exploitation-timing gap.

Category: Threat Intelligence / Vulnerability Intelligence
HQ: Lexington, MA

Nucleus Security, Later Stage VC, $20M (Delta-v Capital)
Vulnerability management platform. Single source of truth for all vulnerability and security-finding information.

Category: Vulnerability Management
HQ: Sarasota, FL

Backslash Security, Series A, $19M (Kompas VC)
Cloud-native application security merging code and cloud security findings.

Category: Application Security / Code Security
HQ: Tel Aviv, Israel

Trustwise, Series A, $12.1M
GenAI safety software ensuring business alignment and ethical integrity across AI models.

Category: AI Safety / GenAI Security
HQ: Austin, TX

EntropiQ, Series A, $10M (In Progress)
Quantum entropy and endpoint cloaking for critical infrastructure.

Category: Post-Quantum Cryptography / Endpoint Security
HQ: Atlanta, GA

Clearly AI, Seed, $8.4M (Basis Set Ventures) + $5M
RSA Innovation Sandbox RSA Innovation Sandbox 2026 finalist. Automating security and privacy reviews.

Category: AI Security Automation / Privacy Compliance
HQ: Seattle, WA

Refute, Seed, ~$6.8M (Amadeus Capital Partners)
AI-powered disinformation detection. National Security Strategic Investment Fund (NSSIF) participated.

Category: AI Disinformation Detection
HQ: London, UK

Nimble Security, Seed, $5M
Currently operating in stealth mode.

Category: Cybersecurity (Stealth)
HQ: Sunnyvale, CA

Evoke, Seed, $4M
AI security platform for detecting, monitoring, and securing agentic AI risks.

Category: AI Agent Security
HQ: Virginia

Myota, Later Stage VC, $3M
AI-based data security management.

Category: AI Data Security
HQ: Blue Bell, PA

CyberArk, Acquired by Palo Alto Networks (NAS: PANW)
Deal Type: Merger / Acquisition
Deal Date: February 11, 2026
Deal Size: $26.2B
The largest pure-play cybersecurity acquisition in history. Identity security is now officially a platform play.

KOI, Definitive Agreement to be Acquired by Palo Alto Networks (NAS: PANW)
Deal Type: Merger / Acquisition
Deal Date: February 17, 2026
Deal Size: $400M
Malicious IDE extension detection for software supply chain security.

AllTrue.ai, Acquired by Varonis
Deal Type: Merger / Acquisition
Deal Date: February 3, 2026
Deal Size: $126M
AI governance and security platform.

Rotate, Acquired by Check Point Software Technologies (NAS: CHKP)
Deal Type: Merger / Acquisition
Deal Date: February 12, 2026
Deal Size: $30M
SMB-focused cybersecurity with integrated cyber insurance.

MightyID, Acquired by Semperis
Deal Type: Merger / Acquisition
Deal Date: February 4, 2026
Deal Size: ~$20M
Access management resilience.

Cyata, Acquired by Check Point Software Technologies (NAS: CHKP)
Deal Type: Merger / Acquisition
Deal Date: February 12, 2026
Deal Size: Undisclosed
Agent identity control plane for governing AI agents.

Cyclops Security, Acquired by Check Point Software Technologies (NAS: CHKP)
Deal Type: Merger / Acquisition
Deal Date: February 12, 2026
Deal Size: Undisclosed
AI-powered cyber risk prioritisation platform.

Sevco Security, Acquired
Deal Type: Merger / Acquisition
Deal Date: February 23, 2026
Deal Size: Undisclosed
Cyber asset management platform.

IronCircle, Acquired by Quickstart
Deal Type: Merger / Acquisition
Deal Date: February 19, 2026
Deal Size: Undisclosed
AI-powered cybersecurity training platform.

On February 27, the Trump administration banned Anthropic from all federal contracts, designated it a "supply chain risk" (a label typically reserved for foreign adversaries), and gave agencies six months to phase out the company's technology. Hours later, OpenAI announced it had signed a deal with the Pentagon to deploy its models on classified networks.

Ironically, a few hours after this announcement, Anthropic was used extensively by the US to support their plans in the Middle East.

What happened:

Anthropic had been the first AI company to deploy models on the Pentagon's classified networks, through a partnership with Palantir worth up to $200 million. But the company had two red lines: it would not allow its AI to be used for domestic mass surveillance of Americans, or for fully autonomous weapons that kill without human oversight.

The Pentagon insisted that any AI model must be available for "all lawful purposes." After months of negotiations, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei said the company could not "in good conscience accede to the Pentagon's request." Within hours, President Trump posted on Truth Social directing every federal agency to "immediately cease" using Anthropic's technology, calling the company "left-wing nut jobs."

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth then designated Anthropic a "supply chain risk," a move that not only ends Anthropic's federal contracts but forces every military contractor and supplier to certify they do not use Anthropic's models. It is the first time this designation has ever been applied to an American company.

The OpenAI deal:

Hours after Trump's announcement, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman posted that his company had reached an agreement with the Pentagon. The deal reportedly includes the same two safeguards Anthropic had requested: prohibitions on domestic mass surveillance and human responsibility for the use of force in autonomous weapons.

So why did OpenAI get the deal while Anthropic got banned?

The key difference appears to be how the safeguards were structured. Anthropic wanted explicit contractual restrictions. OpenAI agreed that the Pentagon could use its tech for "any lawful purpose," while also building "technical safeguards" into its models and deploying personnel to ensure safety compliance. The Pentagon could accept this framing; it could not accept Anthropic's.

The boycott:

A campaign called "QuitGPT" claims over 1.5 million people have taken action, either cancelling subscriptions, sharing boycott messages, or signing up via quitgpt.org. The movement accuses OpenAI of "putting profit before public safety" by accepting a deal Anthropic rejected on ethical grounds.

What this means for cybersecurity:

The immediate impact is significant. Anthropic's designation as a supply chain risk means every defence contractor, federal supplier, and company with Pentagon exposure now faces a choice: use Claude and risk losing government business, or drop Anthropic entirely.

For CISOs at companies with federal contracts, this requires immediate attention. General counsels will be asking whether using Claude creates unacceptable risk, even for non-government work.

But the longer-term implications are bigger. This is the first time the US government has weaponised supply chain risk designations against a domestic company for refusing to agree to contract terms. Anthropic has said it will challenge the designation in court, arguing it sets "a dangerous precedent for any American company that negotiates with the government."

The AI safety angle:

There is deep irony here. Anthropic was founded by former OpenAI employees who left specifically over safety concerns. The company has built its brand on being the "safety-focused" AI lab, with Constitutional AI and extensive red-teaming.

Now that positioning has cost them their most important government contract, while OpenAI, which has historically been more aggressive about deployment, gets the deal by framing the same safeguards differently.

The Trident Take:

This story is not over. Anthropic will challenge the designation in court, and the legal fight could take years. In the meantime, the practical impact on Anthropic's commercial business is unclear. Most enterprise customers are not defence contractors.

But the signal is clear: AI governance is now a geopolitical issue, not just a technical one. For cybersecurity leaders, the takeaway is simple: AI procurement decisions now carry geopolitical risk. Understand your exposure, document your reasoning, and watch this space carefully.

Nine companies joined the accelerator programme in February:

Nine cybersecurity companies went out of business in February:

Enterprise Account Executive
💰 $250K-$300K OTE (50/50)
📍 East/Central USA Deception technology vendor proactively detecting and stopping credential theft. Enterprise sales motion.
Contact: [email protected]

Strategic Account Executive
💰 $350K-$400K OTE (50/50)
📍 North East / Mid-Atlantic / West USA
AI-powered penetration testing platform that adapts to each customer's environment. Strategic enterprise accounts.
Contact: [email protected]

North Central Enterprise Account Executives
💰 $300K OTE (50/50)
📍 North Central USA
Established offensive security vendor with enterprise customers. Opportunity to own and run the region.
Contact: [email protected]

VP of Sales (AI Security Agents)
💰 $350K OTE
📍 USA
Game-changing AI-powered security agents. Repeat founding team with top-tier VC backing. Leadership opportunity.
Contact: [email protected]

Federal Account Managers (DC-Based)
💰 $340K OTE (50/50) ~
📍 Washington DC
AI-powered GRC/compliance platform. Federal sales motion.
Contact: [email protected]

Commercial / Mid-Market Account Executive
💰 $160K-$200K OTE
📍 USA
Established CTEM vendor at $10M ARR. SMB/Mid-Market focus with opportunity to run the US sales team in a small, high-impact environment.
Contact: [email protected]

Commercial / Mid-Market Account Executive
💰 $200K-$220K OTE
📍 Boston (On-site)
AI DLP vendor genuinely paving the way in their niche. Team of 2 AEs currently, chance to be part of the founding sales team.
Contact: [email protected]

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Editor: Ryan Keeley | London