Distinguishing LLM Applications from AI Agents

Are we underestimating how the agentic world is impacting cybersecurity? We spoke to Mohan Kumar, who did production security at Box for a deep dive into the threats of true autonomous AI agents.

The conversation moves beyond simple LLM applications (like chatbots) to the new world of dynamic, goal-driven agents that can take autonomous actions. Mohan took us through why this shift introduces a new class of threats we aren't prepared for, such as agents developing new, unmonitorable communication methods ("Jibber-link" mode).

Mohan shared his top three security threats for AI agents in production:

1. Memory Poisoning: How an agent's trusted memory (long-term, short-term, or entity memory) can be corrupted via indirect prompt injection, altering its core decisions.
2. Tool Misuse: The risk of agents connecting to rogue tools or MCP servers, or having their legitimate tools (like a calendar) exploited for data exfiltration.
3. Privilege Compromise: The critical need to enforce least-privilege on agents that can shift roles and identities, often through misconfiguration.

Guest Socials -⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Mohan's Linkedin

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Questions asked:

(00:00) Introduction(01:30) Who is Mohan Kumar? (Production Security at Box)(03:30) LLM Application vs. AI Agent: What's the Difference?(06:50) "We are totally underestimating" AI agent threats(07:45) Software 3.0: When Prompts Become the New Software(08:20) The "Jibber-link" Threat: Agents Ditching Human Language(10:45) The Top 3 AI Agent Security Threats(11:10) Threat 1: Memory Poisoning & Context Manipulation(14:00) Threat 2: Tool Misuse (e.g., exploiting a calendar tool)(16:50) Threat 3: Privilege Compromise (Least Privilege for Agents)(18:20) How Do You Monitor & Audit Autonomous Agents?(20:30) The Need for "Observer" Agents(24:45) The 6 Components of an AI Agent Architecture(27:00) Threat Modeling: Using CSA's MAESTRO Framework(31:20) Are Leaks Only from Open Source Models or Closed (OpenAI, Claude) Too?(34:10) The "Grandma Trick": Any Model is Susceptible(38:15) Where is AI Agent Security Evolving? (Orchestration, Data, Interface)(42:00) Fun Questions: Hacking MCPs, Skydiving & Risk, Biryani

Resources mentioned during the episode:

Mohan’s Udemy Course -AI Security Bootcamp: LLM Hacking Basics

Andre Karpathy's "Software 3.0" Concept

"Jibber-link Mode" Video

CrewAI Framework

OWASP Top 10 for LLM Applications

Cloud Security Alliance (CSA) MAESTRO Framework