Cybersecurity in Agentic Commerce: Safeguarding the Autonomous Future

Building a Secure Foundation for the Future of Autonomous Transactions

–Dr. Alissa Abdullah, Deputy Chief Security Officer, Mastercard

San Jose, Calif. – Dec. 4, 2025

Agentic commerce is changing the way we shop and interact online. Imagine telling your digital assistant to find the best deal on running shoes, make the purchase, and arrange delivery—all without you having to do a thing. This isn’t just a glimpse of the future; it’s happening now. At Mastercard, we’re excited about the possibilities, but we also know that security must keep pace with innovation.

What Is Agentic Commerce—and Why Does Security Matter?

Agentic commerce uses advanced AI agents to act on your behalf, making decisions and completing transactions autonomously. These agents can access sensitive information, negotiate with merchants, and handle complex tasks across different platforms. The benefits are clear: speed, personalization, and convenience. But with these advances come new cybersecurity challenges that we need to tackle head-on.

How Mastercard Is Protecting Agentic Commerce

At Mastercard, we focus on four key areas to keep agentic commerce secure:

1. Identity and Authentication
   We make sure AI agents can reliably verify who you are before taking any action. Multi-factor authentication and ongoing identity checks help prevent unauthorized transactions and keep your accounts safe.
2. Data Privacy
   Agents handle a lot of personal and financial data. Protecting this information is a top priority. We use advanced encryption and privacy-preserving technologies to secure your data, whether it’s being sent or stored.
3. Transaction Security
   Autonomous payments need strong protocols to block interception or fraud. Our Agent Pay solution and the Agent Payments Protocol (AP2) are designed to authenticate every transaction and provide traceability, so you can trust the process from start to finish.
4. Accountability and Transparency
   When agents act independently, it’s important to have clear records of every action. Our systems log all activity, making it easier to resolve disputes and assign responsibility if something goes wrong. You also have control over what your agents can do and can review your transaction history anytime.

Building Trust in Autonomous Agents

Trust is the foundation of agentic commerce, but as these systems grow, it’s essential to achieve trust at scale. At Mastercard, we’re committed to building security into every layer of our systems—from the AI models that make decisions to the payment protocols that move your money. 

We also believe security is a shared responsibility. Consumers should stay informed about how their data is used and take advantage of available controls. Businesses need to invest in cybersecurity and foster transparency.

Looking Ahead

Agentic commerce isn’t just a technological leap—it’s a transformation of the digital economy. As AI agents become more capable, cyber attackers will look for new ways to exploit them. Our job is to stay ahead of these threats, continuously improving our defenses and empowering users to transact with confidence.

If you’re interested in a deeper dive into the architecture, protocols, and real-world examples of agentic commerce, I encourage you to read the latest Mastercard Signals report. 

At Mastercard, we believe the future of commerce should be both innovative and secure. By prioritizing cybersecurity, we’re helping unlock the full potential of autonomous agents—making commerce faster, smarter, and safer for everyone.

–Dr. Alissa Abdullah, Deputy Chief Security Officer, Mastercard

SPONSORED BY MASTERCARD

Mastercard works to connect and power an inclusive digital economy that benefits everyone, everywhere by making transactions safe, simple, smart and accessible. Using secure data and networks, partnerships and passion, our innovations and solutions help individuals, financial institutions, governments and businesses realize their greatest potential. Our decency quotient, or DQ, drives our culture and everything we do inside and outside of our company.

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