Barracuda Networks has launched Barracuda AI Data Security, an AI security and governance solution designed to help resource-constrained businesses and managed service providers (MSPs) adopt generative AI without losing control of sensitive data, compliance or security. The company positions the product as the first of its kind purpose-built for these underserved segments.
Built on the BarracudaONE platform, the solution combines AI visibility, data protection, threat defence and governance in one deployment. It is intended to give organisations a practical way to approve AI tools, inspect employee interactions and demonstrate policy enforcement to auditors and insurers.
The launch responds to a widening capability gap. Barracuda Research found that nearly half of senior IT leaders say their teams lack the skills needed to securely govern AI already in use across their businesses. More broadly, 38% of organisations surveyed said they lacked the expertise to secure and govern the AI tools being used, with AI security and governance ranking as the third-largest skills gap.
Governance gap creates risk
The consequences of weak oversight are becoming clearer. According to IBM’s Cost of a Data Breach Report 2026, 68% of organisations that experienced a breach lacked policies to manage AI or detect shadow AI.
“AI adoption is accelerating faster than most businesses can keep pace, creating one of the most urgent new security and compliance challenges organisations face today,” said Neal Bradbury, chief product officer at Barracuda. “Organisations need a practical way to secure AI as a new attack surface, protect sensitive data, enforce responsible use, and demonstrate compliance.”
Barracuda said AI Data Security provides visibility into AI usage, enables approved tools safely, inspects prompts and uploads in real time, and produces audit-ready evidence of policy enforcement. Powered by the Barracuda IQ AI engine, it extends protection across more than 1,300 generative AI tools, including Microsoft Copilot, ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini.
Controls for smaller firms
The platform automatically blocks sensitive information—including customer data, passwords, financial records and proprietary code—from reaching generative AI services, with no initial configuration required. It also detects prompt injection, jailbreak attempts, hate speech and policy-violating topics, with detection aligned to the OWASP LLM Top 10.
Organisations can create tailored policies by team, tool and data type, allowing them to permit AI use where it creates value while restricting it where risk is too high. Every AI interaction is captured in a compliance-ready audit trail, with one-click exports for auditors and insurers.
Barracuda said the product is designed for rapid deployment, using familiar firewall-style workflows and guided configuration through its Bailey AI assistant. MSPs receive centralised multitenant management and bundled pricing, enabling them to help customers adopt AI responsibly without requiring specialist AI-security skills.
Barracuda AI Data Security is expected to be available in October 2026 and will be included at no additional cost in Barracuda SecureEdge Premium Access.
