Workflow
Harden an AI System Against Injection and Misuse
Architectural controls that survive a manipulated model.
2 min readupdated 2026-08-01
/ quick answer
Assume the model can be turned against you and remove its ability to do damage. Architectural controls that survive a manipulated model.
Architectural controls that survive a manipulated model. The problem it solves: System-prompt instructions like 'never reveal secrets' are not a security control. Assume the model can be turned against you and remove its ability to do damage. It runs in 8 steps, starting with map every tool the model can reach and classify read / write / irreversible. This workflow node is part of the Onexial knowledge graph and links to related concepts, workflows and tools below.
Problem
System-prompt instructions like 'never reveal secrets' are not a security control.
Solution
Assume the model can be turned against you and remove its ability to do damage.
Steps
- 01Map every tool the model can reach and classify read / write / irreversible.
- 02Remove generic escape hatches: raw SQL, shell, arbitrary HTTP.
- 03Enforce authorisation server-side, per user, on every call — never in the prompt.
- 04Treat all retrieved content as hostile input; never let it change the agent's goal.
- 05Filter output for secrets, tokens and PII before it leaves the system.
- 06Require approval for money movement, deletions and external communication.
- 07Log every call with user, args and result; alert on anomalous patterns.
- 08Record the system in the AI register with an owner and a review date.
Tools Used
Prompts Used
Related Dictionary
/ frequently asked
What does the Harden an AI System Against Injection and Misuse workflow do?
Assume the model can be turned against you and remove its ability to do damage.
What problem does Harden an AI System Against Injection and Misuse solve?
System-prompt instructions like 'never reveal secrets' are not a security control.
How many steps does Harden an AI System Against Injection and Misuse take?
8 steps. It starts with map every tool the model can reach and classify read / write / irreversible. and ends with record the system in the ai register with an owner and a review date..
Which tools does Harden an AI System Against Injection and Misuse need?
It uses ai-security-stack — each linked below with its own node.
↳ connected nodes
Dictionary↳ linked
AI Security
AI security protects systems where the model is an untrusted decision-maker acting on untrusted input with real tool access.
Dictionary↳ linked
Prompt Injection
An attack where hostile input hijacks the LLM's instructions, causing it to leak data or misbehave.
Dictionary↳ linked
AI Governance
AI governance is the set of policies, records and reviews that make an organisation's AI use accountable and auditable.
Tool Stack↳ linked
AI Security Stack
Least-privilege tooling, approval gates and audit trails for agentic systems.
Prompt↳ linked
AI System Threat Model Prompt
Produces a concrete threat model for an AI system with tool access.
Workflow↳ linked
Audit MCP Tool Security
A checklist that catches the failure modes unique to model-driven tool calls.