Securing a hybrid environment is complex, but uncovering possible security risks within your environment doesn’t have to be. In fact, you can do it asking simple questions without the need to log into a dashboard or dig through manual reports. It only takes you and a single AI prompt. This isn’t some distant future scenario we are talking about because with Netwrix Access Analyzer and AI conversational assistants like Claude Desktop and Microsoft Copilot Studio, it is here today.
The Power of AI Enhancement
Netwrix Access Analyzer is renowned for its ability to provide the answers and control that security teams need today to govern their enterprises. Here are but a few capabilities of Network Access Analyzer:
- Identifies where sensitive and regulated data resides and automatically classifies it
- Enforces a least privilege model by revoking unnecessary access to sensitive data
- Provides enterprise-wide visibility into who has access to what data
- Demonstrate compliance with GDPR, HIPAA, and SOX through comprehensive reporting
- Detects and resolves security gaps that put your sensitive and regulated data at risk
Netwrix Access Analyzer is a powerful tool on its own but integrating it with a digital assistant significantly enhances its automation and intelligence capabilities. Perhaps the most transformative capability that AI tool integration brings is natural language query support, which democratizes security and makes it more accessible to a broader audience. Imagine being able to retrieve critical access insights with simple, intuitive requests like:
“Show me all accounts that haven’t logged in for 90 days and still have access to HR data.”
Now let’s take it one step further. With Netwrix Access Analyzer you can ask for dashboards as well as data because it supports high-level prompts that return full, AI-generated dashboards. Now consider making this request:
“Using all the tools available to you from Netwrix Access Analyzer, create a dashboard which shows my data security overview, risks, and recommended remediations.”
The result is a comprehensive dashboard—covering sensitive data, risks to this data and remediation recommendations. With Netwrix Access Analyzer, a single question can result in a single pane of glass full of insights into your environment.
The Protocol that Makes Integration Possible
This ability to communicate with such a powerful security tool using natural language is made possible by the Model Context Protocol (MCP). This protocol may prove to be one of the most significant advances since fundamental protocols like SMTP or Bluetooth, as it standardizes secure interactions between AI assistants and enterprise systems. MCP is an open standard designed to seamlessly connect AI assistants to enterprise systems without the need for custom integrations. Think of it as a bridge between your internal systems and tools like Claude or Copilot.
Granting AI assistants direct access to a system database would introduce too many security vulnerabilities. By inserting MCP as a middleware component, AI never directly interacts with the database or sensitive systems. This component is in the form of a server and once in place, it allows authorized user to ask a simple question such as “Who has access to this confidential HR document?“
How MCP Works
MCP is a structured protocol that enforces an established order for integrating an AI assistant with Netwrix Access Analyzer or any similar type of enterprise security system. Here are the components and how they interact.
- The AI agent (client) sends requests to an MCP server.
- The MCP server validates these requests, retrieves data from authorized sources, in this case, the Network Access Analyzer and returns a structured response to the agent.
Let’s look at the entire process using the following scenario. A user is working with Claude and asks the question: “Who has access to \\fs02\finance?” Here is what happens next:
- Claude interprets the question and sends the query to the MCP server for validation.
- The MCP server verifies the user’s identity and checks permissions against enterprise policies
- The MCP server then forwards it to Netwrix Access Analyzer, which contains the access control data.
- Network Access Analyzer processes the request and returns the data about the user roles and permissions in a machine readable format
- The server relays this response to Claude, which then translates the technical data into a human-readable answer for the user. In this case, access to \\fs02\finance is granted to the Finance Team, Senior Management and IT admins. Claude also reports on what permissions these groups have as well.
Is AI Integration Secure?
The MCP server ensures only authorized users and approved queries reach backend systems. It is important to note that at no time does the AI tool come in direct contact with Network Access Analyzer or any enterprise component other than the MCP server. Here are three other things to know:
- You are the one that deploys and controls the MCP server
- You are the one that decides what data is exposed
- All AI queries can be logged and audited
AI-Powered Clarity for Your Critical Systems
Netwrix Access Analyzer has 40+ built-in data collection modules covering both on-premises and cloud-based platforms. This means that you can learn what is going on security wise about most of your critical systems including Active Directory, Microsoft Entra ID, file systems, Microsoft 365, Oracle and Nutanix to name a few.
One of the standout features of this AI integration is its simplicity. You don’t need to master the technical jargon or intricacies of each system. You only need to ask the AI assistant simple questions such as:
“Have there been any failed login attempts to Oracle databases from unusual IP addresses recently?”
“What Microsoft 365 Exchange mailboxes have had delegation rights modified recently?”
“Which users have accessed Nutanix virtual machine administrative controls outside of business hours?”
Security no longer needs to be so complex that only a handful of team members can navigate it. With the integration of MCP-supported AI assistants and Netwrix Access Analyzer, you can streamline your security analysis and uncover hidden or potential risks with unprecedented ease. Now, a simple question you can gain deep insights into your environment, turning a single prompt into a wealth of actionable information.
