- AI agents pose insider risks due to unsupervised access and lack of visibility controls, report claims
- 66% of major data loss events stem from careless employees or third-party contractors
- Proofpoint urges behavior-aware, adaptive security to protect both human and AI activity
As businesses rush to deploy Generative Artificial Intelligence (Gen AI) and AI Agents, they are faced with the same troubles that come with trying to quickly implement any new technology: risks of data spills, leaks, and breaches.
A new Proofpointreport has argued “agentic workspaces” are a new class of insider risk, rivaling in severity even human error. Two in five respondent organizations said data loss via public or enterprise GenAI tools is a top concern, while over a third said they worry about sensitive data being used in AI training.
AI agents are often operating as privileged superusers, the report further explains, which only makes things worse. More than a third (38%) flagged unsupervised data access by AI Agents as a “critical threat”, and 54% said they lacked sufficient visibility and controls over Gen AI tools – so in other words, AI agents are being left to their own devices, and this spells trouble.
Testing the limits
“We’ve entered a new era of data security where insider threats, relentless data growth and AI-driven change are testing the limits of traditional defences,” said Ryan Kalember, chief strategy officer, Proofpoint.
“Fragmented tools and limited visibility leave organisations exposed. The future of data protection depends on unified, AI-powered solutions that understand content and context, adapt in real time and secure information across both human and agent activity.”
Despite AI being an issue, humans remain the weakest link in this cybersecurity chain. Two thirds (66%) of organizations attributed their most significant data loss events to “careless employees” and third-party contractors, while 31% cited compromised users. A third (33%) pointed to malicious insiders.
To mitigate the threats of both humans and AI agents, Proofpoint advises pivoting towards behavioral cybersecurity and analytics: “just 1% of users are responsible for 76% of data loss events, emphasizing the importance of behaviour-aware, adaptive security strategies,” it says.
Apparently, two-thirds (65%) have already deployed AI-enhanced data security capabilities.
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