How to safely grant AI agents internet access without exposing your systems

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AI agents increasingly require network access to fetch data and call APIs, but unrestricted outbound connectivity creates serious security risks, including data exfiltration and payload delivery. Security experts recommend a default-deny egress model, where sandboxed agents are only permitted to reach the specific destinations their task requires. Allowlisting should be done by domain rather than IP address, since IPs can rotate and shared CDNs serve thousands of hosts. DNS must also be controlled, as it can itself serve as a covert data exfiltration channel even in otherwise locked-down environments. Logging all outbound calls and using disposable, per-task sandboxes further reduces attack surface and aids detection of anomalous activity.

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