Aug 29, 2026 · 30 min
AI assistants can be persuaded to betray their safeguards
How Varonis hacks AIs into snitching on themselves
Enterprise AI systems increasingly handle sensitive information, but model-level defenses can be bypassed without layered controls and human oversight.
- 1CoSnitch and RovoBlast show how researchers can exploit gaps left by patches and restricted enterprise-AI environments.
- 2Psychological tactics exploit the gap between an AI model’s drive to help and an organization’s need to protect data.
- 3Least privilege, monitoring, deterministic harnesses, and human validation remain essential as AI agents enter security workflows.
Don't miss
Mark explains how psychological tactics such as authority, reciprocity, and scarcity can push AI systems toward exfiltrating protected data.
The brief
David speaks with Mark Weitzman of Varonis about CoSnitch, an attack chain targeting Microsoft Copilot and the search for bypasses after vendors patch earlier flaws.
The discussion moves to RovoBlast and Atlassian Rovo, showing how researchers navigated stricter guardrails and limited internet access in an organization-grade AI system.
Built-in guardrails are compared with a basic door chain: useful, but insufficient without least privilege, monitoring, logging, zero trust, and restricted data access.
More than 40 psychologically based bypasses illustrate the helpfulness-security gap, using tactics such as authority, reciprocity, and scarcity to pressure models toward unsafe behavior.
Mark argues that AI agents can accelerate vulnerability research and patching, but meaningful security findings still depend on humans directing, validating, and evaluating the tools.
Books & mentions
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