The Lethal Trifecta: How AI Agents Leak Your Data (and How to Stop It)

The lethal trifecta is the combination of three capabilities that, when held by a single AI agent, turns it into a data-exfiltration tool: (1) access to private or sensitive data, (2) exposure to untrusted content the agent did not author, such as web pages, emails, or documents, and (3) a way to communicate externally, like network access or the ability to send messages. The term was popularized by Simon Willison. When all three legs are present at once, an attacker can hide instructions…