The threat revolves around security challenges posed by agentic AI systems—autonomous AI agents capable of making decisions and performing actions without direct human intervention. These systems introduce novel attack surfaces and risks, including manipulation, unauthorized actions, data leakage, and cascading failures. The referenced OWASP ASI (Artificial Intelligence Security Initiative) Top 10 provides a framework of key security controls designed to mitigate these risks, such as input validation, secure model training, access control, monitoring, and incident response tailored to AI agents. The Kaspersky blog article emphasizes that while no specific vulnerabilities or exploits have been identified yet, organizations must proactively implement these controls to prevent malicious AI behavior that could compromise system integrity or data confidentiality. The medium severity rating reflects the current absence of active exploits but acknowledges the significant potential damage if agentic AI systems are compromised. The threat is particularly relevant as agentic AI adoption grows in enterprise environments, necessitating specialized security strategies beyond traditional IT controls.

For European organizations, the impact of malicious agentic AI behavior could be substantial. Compromised AI agents might perform unauthorized transactions, leak sensitive data, manipulate decision-making processes, or disrupt critical services. This could lead to financial losses, reputational damage, regulatory penalties under GDPR and other data protection laws, and operational disruptions. Sectors such as finance, healthcare, manufacturing, and critical infrastructure, which increasingly integrate AI agents, are particularly vulnerable. The threat also raises concerns about supply chain security if third-party AI components are involved. The medium severity indicates that while immediate widespread exploitation is not evident, the evolving nature of AI threats requires vigilance to prevent future incidents that could affect confidentiality, integrity, and availability of systems and data.

European organizations should adopt a comprehensive AI security framework aligned with the OWASP ASI Top 10 controls. This includes rigorous input validation to prevent injection attacks, secure and transparent AI model training processes to avoid data poisoning, and strict access controls limiting AI agent capabilities to authorized users and systems. Continuous monitoring and anomaly detection should be implemented to identify unusual AI behaviors promptly. Incident response plans must be updated to address AI-specific scenarios. Organizations should also conduct regular security assessments and audits of AI components, including third-party integrations. Employee training on AI risks and secure development practices is essential. Collaboration with AI vendors to ensure security-by-design principles and compliance with European data protection regulations will further reduce risks. Finally, investing in research and threat intelligence focused on agentic AI vulnerabilities will help anticipate emerging threats.