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ZDNET Highlights
- Visa and Akami aim to secure agent transactions.
- This is another layer of security for AI-led shopping.
- AI shopping experiences create new security risks.
If you’ve been shopping online during the holidays, you may have noticed that this year, you have the option to use AI as a shopping assistant. This is just one step toward the ultimate goal of autonomous, agentic AI transactions – which, while convenient, also opens up a new set of vulnerabilities.
Also: Should you trust AI agents with your holiday shopping? Here’s what the experts want you to know
Visa and cybersecurity company Akamai Technologies are collaborating to solve a critical problem in agentic commerce: verifying whether a bot conducting a transaction was sent by a human or a malicious actor. partnership, announced on wednesdayUses Visa’s Trusted Agent Protocol with Akamai Technologies’ cybersecurity protections to create a secure agent-based commerce experience with improved fraud controls.
Transforming AI Agents from Novelties to Trusted Actors
“By combining the Visa Trusted Agent Protocol with Akamai’s deep user identification and threat intelligence, we are working to solve the dual-identity challenge that is critical to AI commerce,” said Patrick Sullivan, chief technology officer of security strategy at Akamai Technologies. “We prove who the agent is and, critically, what it represents. This is what transforms AI agents from novelties into credible economic actors.”
Many credit card companies have begun laying the groundwork for agent-based transactions by implementing new protocols, frameworks, and measures designed to improve security for individual users and enterprises. In May, Visa launched Intelligent Commerce, which provides payments support to developers building agentic AI shopping experiences. It also offers AI-ready credit cards that replace card details with tokenized digital credentials, as well as AI Payments, which enables AI agents to conduct transactions using user-set guidelines. Google’s Agent Payments Protocol, launched in September, aims to create similar protections for those wary of AI-enabled transactions.
Also: How to Shop with AI: 6 Ways I Find Deals, Track Prices, and Let Agents Do the Shopping for Me
As noted in the announcement, traders will now have to understand whether a bot is trying to make a transaction that is actually from a human. This is especially important as Akamai 2025 Digital Fraud and Abuse Report Found that AI-powered bot traffic has increased 300% in the past year.
To solve this, Visa’s Trusted Agent Protocol’s agent authentication framework and Akamai’s edge-based behavioral intelligence and user identity will work together to verify the validity of agent activity. They will also work together to connect agents to each user, the trusted agent protocol will transmit information from the user to the agent, and then Akamai will preserve that identity.
Also: The coming AI agent crisis: Why Okta’s new security standard is a must for your business
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the Trusted Agent Protocol can ensure that payments reach the merchant as requested by the buyer, while Akamai can provide end-to-end security. According to Visa, the entire Trusted Agent protocol is to be deployed with “minimal infrastructure and user experience (UX) changes”, enabling its 175 million Visa accepting merchant locations to move to agented commerce as seamlessly as possible.
