AI Agent Security: The Risks Nobody Is Talking About

AI agents are the most powerful—and most dangerous—software pattern to emerge in years. An AI agent with tool access can query databases, call APIs, send emails, modify files, and execute code.

Prompt injection gets exponentially worse with agents. In a chatbot, it tricks the model into saying something wrong. In an agent, it tricks the model into doing something wrong.

Tool abuse: An agent with broad database access can be redirected to query sensitive data it shouldn't access. The principle of least privilege is routinely violated.

Multi-agent trust: A compromised agent can poison inputs to other agents, gradually corrupting the entire system.

Data exfiltration through agent memory: Injected data in one session affects all future sessions.

Mitigations: Least privilege ruthlessly applied at the tool level. Input/output filtering. Sandboxed execution. Human-in-the-loop for destructive operations. Comprehensive audit logs. Check /ai-governance-checklist for a complete security framework.

About the Author

Durai Rajamanickam is a Business Transformation Leader and author of The AI Inflection Point: Volume 1 - Financial Services. With over two decades of experience, he specializes in AI-driven enterprise transformation, designing evidence-based ROI frameworks, and helping organizations modernize legacy systems with intelligent automation.

His work focuses on translating AI ambition into measurable business outcomes, with case studies spanning Ramp, Nubank, Coinbase, RBC, and Stripe—all showcasing AI ROI between 2.56× and 17×.

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