Reconnaissance-Driven Pentesting Framework for AI Agents Introduced

Or Zion Eliav, Eyal Lenga, Shir Bernstien, Yisroel Mirsky· July 23, 2026 View original

Summary

Researchers propose Know Your Agent (KYA), a framework that automates black-box, reconnaissance-driven penetration testing for AI agents. KYA probes agents, builds target profiles, and uses them to craft stronger indirect prompt injection attacks.

This research introduces a novel approach to penetration testing for AI agents, emphasizing the importance of reconnaissance, similar to traditional cybersecurity practices. The "Know Your Agent" (KYA) framework formalizes this process by modeling how adversaries extract knowledge assets from AI systems. These assets are then leveraged to exploit agent weaknesses, particularly through indirect prompt injection attacks. KYA automates this black-box testing by systematically probing agents, creating detailed profiles of their vulnerabilities, and subsequently generating more potent attacks based on these insights. The framework has been evaluated on standard security benchmarks and a real-world coding agent, demonstrating its effectiveness in uncovering vulnerabilities.

Why it matters

Professionals developing or deploying AI agents need robust security testing methods to identify and mitigate vulnerabilities like prompt injection before deployment. This framework offers an automated, systematic way to enhance agent security.

How to implement this in your domain

  1. 1Integrate KYA or similar reconnaissance-driven testing into your AI agent development lifecycle.
  2. 2Train security teams on the principles of agent reconnaissance and indirect prompt injection.
  3. 3Develop internal guidelines for secure AI agent design, considering potential knowledge extraction by adversaries.
  4. 4Regularly audit AI agents using black-box testing methodologies to uncover unforeseen weaknesses.

Who benefits

CybersecuritySoftware DevelopmentAI/ML PlatformsFinancial ServicesDefense

Key takeaways

  • AI agents require reconnaissance-driven penetration testing akin to traditional systems.
  • The KYA framework automates black-box testing to identify agent vulnerabilities.
  • Indirect prompt injection attacks are a key target for this type of reconnaissance.
  • Proactive security testing is crucial for robust AI agent deployment.

Original post by Or Zion Eliav, Eyal Lenga, Shir Bernstien, Yisroel Mirsky

"arXiv:2607.19837v1 Announce Type: new Abstract: Traditional pentesting uses reconnaissance at each step to uncover unseen weaknesses, build stronger attacks, and advance the objective; we argue that AI agents require the same treatment. We formalize agent reconnaissance by modeli…"

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Originally posted by Or Zion Eliav, Eyal Lenga, Shir Bernstien, Yisroel Mirsky on X · view source

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