Defense and governance
Zero trust for AI agents
Zero trust for AI agents applies the never trust, always verify principle to agents: every agent, tool, and call is authenticated and authorized, nothing is trusted by default.
Definition
What is zero trust for AI agents?
Zero trust replaces implicit trust with continuous verification. Applied to agents, it means each agent has a verified identity, each tool and MCP server it uses is authenticated and provenance-checked, and each tool call is authorized against policy on its own merits, rather than being trusted because the agent is inside the network or was trusted a moment ago.
This framing fits agents well because their weak point is misplaced trust: trusting an injected instruction, a poisoned tool, or a server that changed after approval. A zero trust posture pairs default-deny allowlists for tools with per-call authorization and a verifiable record, so an agent operates only inside an explicitly granted lane.
FAQ
Common questions.
What does zero trust look like for an agent?
A verified agent identity, authenticated and provenance-checked tools, a default-deny allowlist of permitted tools, per-call authorization against policy, and a tamper-evident log. Trust is granted per action, not assumed.
Related terms
Keep reading.
Govern the actions, not just the vocabulary
AxioRank scores every tool call your agents make for leaked secrets, PII, destructive operations, and prompt injection, checks it against your policy, and proves it in a tamper-evident audit log. Start free, no card.