# Data exfiltration

A type of AI system attack which attempts to have the system send private data outside your company or to anyone not permitted to see it.

Permissions are the strongest defense: an agent that can't access sensitive data, or can't send anything out, can't leak it. Guardrails reduce the risk but can't make this attack impossible.

Also called: Data leakage, Data leak

Kind of: AI security

Related: Output guardrail, PII redaction, Indirect prompt injection

Source: https://redfinchadvisory.com/lexicon/data-exfiltration (version 1.0, changed 2026-10-21)