AI Agents Challenge Traditional Access Models and Introduce New Security Risks
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AI agents are increasingly used in enterprises to automate tasks, but their broad and often unchecked access permissions are creating significant security risks. These agents operate with delegated authority, can act across multiple systems, and often accumulate permissions over time, leading to access drift. Unlike traditional users or service accounts, AI agents do not fit neatly into existing identity and access management (IAM) models, making it difficult to trace ownership, approval, and accountability. This poses new challenges for security teams in managing and mitigating risks associated with AI agents.
Timeline
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24.01.2026 10:20 1 articles · 23h ago
AI Agents Identified as High-Risk Entities Requiring New Security Models
AI agents are increasingly being recognized as high-risk entities that do not fit into traditional IAM models. Their ability to operate with broad, persistent permissions and act as access intermediaries creates new security challenges. Organizations are urged to establish clear ownership, accountability, and visibility into user-agent interactions to manage these risks effectively.
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- Who Approved This Agent? Rethinking Access, Accountability, and Risk in the Age of AI Agents — thehackernews.com — 24.01.2026 10:20
Information Snippets
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AI agents can perform actions that individual users are not authorized to execute, creating authorization bypass paths.
First reported: 24.01.2026 10:201 source, 1 articleShow sources
- Who Approved This Agent? Rethinking Access, Accountability, and Risk in the Age of AI Agents — thehackernews.com — 24.01.2026 10:20
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Organizational AI agents, which are shared across teams and workflows, represent the highest risk due to their broad, persistent permissions and lack of clear ownership.
First reported: 24.01.2026 10:201 source, 1 articleShow sources
- Who Approved This Agent? Rethinking Access, Accountability, and Risk in the Age of AI Agents — thehackernews.com — 24.01.2026 10:20
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Personal AI agents, owned by individual users, have a smaller blast radius and are easier to govern compared to organizational agents.
First reported: 24.01.2026 10:201 source, 1 articleShow sources
- Who Approved This Agent? Rethinking Access, Accountability, and Risk in the Age of AI Agents — thehackernews.com — 24.01.2026 10:20
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Third-party AI agents, provided by vendors as part of SaaS and AI platforms, are governed through vendor controls and shared responsibility models.
First reported: 24.01.2026 10:201 source, 1 articleShow sources
- Who Approved This Agent? Rethinking Access, Accountability, and Risk in the Age of AI Agents — thehackernews.com — 24.01.2026 10:20
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To mitigate risks, organizations need to establish clear ownership and accountability for each AI agent, map user-agent interactions, and understand the full scope of agent access and integrations.
First reported: 24.01.2026 10:201 source, 1 articleShow sources
- Who Approved This Agent? Rethinking Access, Accountability, and Risk in the Age of AI Agents — thehackernews.com — 24.01.2026 10:20