AI Threat Model: Threats BeyondGuard Detects and Blocks

AI introduces a new class of security threats that traditional tools are structurally unable to detect. A firewall cannot tell whether a user message contains a prompt injection. A DLP scanner cannot determine whether a retrieved document was tampered with to manipulate model reasoning. A SIEM cannot follow an agent’s plan and recognize when it has deviated from its authorized scope. These threats live inside the semantic content of AI interactions — in the meaning of text, the intent behind instructions, and the behavior of autonomous systems — not in the packet-level or signature-level patterns that conventional security tools inspect. BeyondGuard is built specifically to detect and neutralize this new threat class across every layer of your AI stack.

Threat Categories

The table below covers every threat class BeyondGuard detects, the layer of the AI value chain where it appears, and its severity under standard risk scoring.

Threat	Layer	Description	Severity
Prompt Injection	Application / Prompt	Malicious instructions embedded in user input to hijack model behavior	High
Jailbreak	Prompt	Attempts to bypass model safety guardrails through adversarial prompting	High
System Prompt Leakage	Model	Extraction of confidential system instructions from the model	High
Scope Violation	Application	Model operates outside defined business logic or role boundaries	Medium
RAG Poisoning	Data	Malicious content injected into the retrieval corpus to manipulate model responses	High
Memory Poisoning	Agent	Attacker corrupts the agent’s persistent memory to influence future behavior	High
Plan Deviation	Agent	Agent takes actions inconsistent with its defined plan or user intent	High
Infinite Loop	Agent	Agent enters a loop state consuming resources without completing its task	Medium
Tool Poisoning	MCP / Tool	Malicious tool definitions or MCP servers that manipulate agent behavior	High
Parameter Injection	MCP / Tool	Unexpected parameter values passed to tools to trigger unintended behavior	Medium
Schema Violation	MCP / Tool	Tool calls or responses that violate expected schemas, potentially hiding malicious payloads	Medium
Data Leakage / PII	Output	Sensitive or personal data included in model output	High
IP Violation	Output	Model outputs that reproduce copyrighted content	Medium
Toxic Output	Output	Harmful, offensive, or inappropriate content in model responses	High
Dangerous Code	Model	Model generates executable code with malicious or dangerous behavior	High
Multi-modal Attacks	Prompt	Malicious instructions embedded in images, audio, or documents provided to multi-modal models	High
Model Supply Chain Attacks	Model	Compromised model weights, fine-tuning datasets, or third-party integrations	High
Shadow AI	Application	Unsanctioned AI tools or models operating outside organizational controls	Medium

OWASP LLM Top 10 Mapping

BeyondGuard maps its detections directly to the OWASP LLM Top 10, the industry-standard reference for AI application security risks. Every threat category in the table above corresponds to one or more OWASP LLM entries, which means your BeyondGuard coverage report can serve directly as evidence of control alignment in audits, vendor assessments, and regulatory submissions. BeyondGuard also maintains coverage mappings for the EU AI Act’s risk management requirements, giving compliance teams a single source of truth across both frameworks. For the full mapping reference, see OWASP LLM Top 10 Coverage.

No single tool eliminates all AI risk. The threats in this model evolve continuously — new jailbreak techniques emerge, novel injection vectors appear in multi-modal inputs, and agent architectures introduce attack surfaces that did not exist when earlier frameworks were written. Defense in depth across every layer of the AI value chain, combined with a structured progression through the maturity model, is the only sustainable approach to AI security.

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AI Threat Model: Threats BeyondGuard Detects and Blocks

Threat Categories

OWASP LLM Top 10 Mapping

​Threat Categories

​OWASP LLM Top 10 Mapping

Threat Categories

OWASP LLM Top 10 Mapping