Jim Love discusses how rapid adoption of agentic AI is repeating the industry pattern of shipping technology without security, citing issues like vulnerabilities in Anthropic's MCP and insecure open-source agent tools. He interviews Ido Shlomo, co-founder and CTO of Token Security, who argues AI agents are fundamentally hard to secure because they are non-deterministic, have infinite input/output space, and often require broad permissions to be useful.
Cybersecurity Today would like to thank Meter for their support in bringing you this podcast. Meter delivers a complete networking stack, wired, wireless and cellular in one integrated solution that's built for performance and scale. You can find them at Meter.com/cst
Shlomo proposes focusing security on access, identity, attribution, least privilege, and auditability rather than trying to filter prompts and outputs, and describes Token's "intent-based permission management" approach that maps agents and sub-agents as non-human identities tied to their purpose and allowed actions. The conversation covers real-world risks such as developer tools like Claude Code running with extensive access, widespread over-provisioning of admin permissions and API keys, exposure of unencrypted local token files, and misconfigurations that leak data publicly. Shlomo recommends organizations build governance processes for agents—discovery/inventory, boundary setting, continuous monitoring, and secure decommissioning—and says AI is needed to help police AI. He also highlights emerging trends like agent teams and multi-day autonomous tasks, and notes Token Security is a top-10 finalist in the RSA Innovation Sandbox 2026, planning to present an intent-and-access-focused security model for AI agents.
00:00 Sponsor: Meter's integrated networking stack
00:19 Why agentic AI security is breaking (MCP & open-source chaos)
02:53 Meet Token Security: practical guardrails for AI agents
04:57 Why you can't just ban agents at work (shadow AI reality)
06:24 Tel Aviv's cybersecurity pipeline: gaming, military, and startups
08:57 Why AI/agents are fundamentally hard to secure (new OS + 'human spirit')
13:44 Trust, autonomy, and permissions: managing the blast radius
18:17 Real-world exposure: Claude Code and the developer identity attack surface
20:16 A workable approach: treat agents as untrusted processes with identity + least privilege
22:33 Zero Trust for Agents: Access ≠ Permission to Act
23:27 Token's "Intent-Based Permission Management" Explained
25:29 Building the Identity Map: Tracing What Agents Touch
26:52 The Secret Sauce: Using AI to Secure AI in Real Time
28:10 Real-World Case: 1,500 Agents and Wildly Over-Provisioned Access
30:57 CUA 'Computer-Use' Agents: Exciting, Personal… and Terrifying
34:44 Secure-by-Default & Sandboxing: Fixing 'Always Allow' Dark Patterns
35:36 What Security Teams Should Do Now: Inventory, Boundaries, Governance
37:59 What's Next: Agent Teams and Multi-Day Autonomous Work
40:10 Tony Stark Vision: Agents That Improve the Human Experience
41:02 RSA Innovation Sandbox: Token's Big Bet on Intent + Access
43:01 Wrap-Up, Audience Q&A, and Sponsor Message
