Securing Desktop AI Agents with Palo Alto Networks Next-Generation Firewall Integration

Employees are shifting their use of AI from the browser to the desktop with AI agents, embedded copilots, API-connected tools, and integrated productivity platforms. Tools such as Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Figma Maker and more are rapidly becoming embedded into daily workflows and perform actions autonomously on behalf of users every single day. 

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But as AI shifts from web interfaces to desktop environments, enterprises are starting to lose visibility into how and why these agents are being used.

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This partial visibility creates risk, both from a data protection perspective and from a governance standpoint. If organizations cannot see how AI agents are accessed across endpoints, they cannot reliably enforce policies, ensure compliance, or understand how corporate resources are being used.

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To address this challenge, Lasso Security integrates directly with Palo Alto Networks’ Next-Generation Firewall infrastructure, extending AI monitoring, risk management, and runtime protection from the browser to the network level.

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Rather than restricting AI adoption, Lasso enables organizations to embrace AI safely and responsibly, with tailored policies that govern how public AI agents are accessed and how sensitive data interacts with them.

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Extending AI Governance to the Network Layer

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For enterprises already using Palo Alto’s infrastructure, no additional desktop agents or sensors are required. The inspection layer is already part of the existing firewall deployment. Lasso integrates directly into that environment, adding an intelligent AI discovery and runtime layer on top of established network security.

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This enables organizations to:

• Detect traffic to public AI services across the entire network
• Monitor AI interactions originating from desktop agents
• Correlate activity with user identity and defined policies
• Apply consistent governance rules at scale
• Enforce real-time data protection and content controls

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By combining agentic awareness with network-level inspection, Lasso delivers comprehensive visibility into how AI is actually used within the organization across employees, agents, and providers. 

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Visibility: Understanding Usage Patterns

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Tracking usage trends is a critical KPI for security teams. With the visibility into AI interactions that take place on the network level, Lasso provides answers to key governance questions:

• Which employees are using which AI agents locally?
• Which departments rely most heavily on shadow AI?
• How effectively has data leakage been reduced over time?
• Where does the highest risk concentration sit within the organization?

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From Visibility to Enforceable Policies

Once visibility is established and organizations understand how their employees are using AI locally, security teams can define governance rules around different types of sensitive data, including:

• Customer and personal information
• Financial records
• Proprietary code
• Internal documents and confidential materials
• Network infrastructure 
• And more 

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When a risk event is detected, administrators can choose among three response options:

1. Block the interaction entirely

2. Alert the employee or security team

3. Mask sensitive information before it is transmitted

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These policy actions also create “coachable moments,” helping employees understand what should be masked and gradually integrate best practices into their daily workflows.

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Strengthening Compliance and Oversight

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As AI adoption accelerates, regulatory scrutiny is increasing in parallel. Enterprises must demonstrate control, traceability, and accountability over emerging technologies. Lasso’s integration with Palo Alto Networks enhances compliance and audit capabilities by providing detailed logs of:

• Desktop agents access events
• Interaction metadata
• Policy enforcement actions
• User-level activity patterns

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This level of transparency supports internal governance frameworks and external regulatory obligations.

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Securing the New Productivity Layer

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Agentic AI is quickly becoming a core layer of enterprise productivity. Like any critical infrastructure, it requires structured oversight. Fragmented discovery and monitoring approaches leave gaps. 

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By integrating with Palo Alto Networks’ Next-Generation Firewall, Lasso extends enterprise-grade AI security into the network layer without disrupting existing infrastructure. The result is a scalable, policy-driven framework that allows organizations to embrace AI confidently, protect sensitive information, and ensure that corporate resources are used as intended.