GLOSSARY
Agentic AI security, defined.
Short, plain-English definitions of the terms we use. Each one links to a page that goes deeper.
TERM 01
Agent Execution Control Switch
A control AI builders add to their agents that verifies every action before it runs, and the agent has no influence over the decision.
How the control switch worksTERM 02
Agent Security Context Graph
The Agent Security Context Graph is a security context graph for AI agents: everything relevant to a single agent action, across six dimensions and 29 signals, assembled outside the agent before the action runs, so the agent cannot edit it.
Explore the security context graph for AI agentsTERM 03
Goldilocks zone
The placement for agent security beside the agent, in the execution path: not inside the agent, and not at the gateway.
Why placement mattersTERM 04
Response ladder
The set of responses Ackuity chooses from for each agent action, scaled to severity and confidence: Allow, Constrain, Human in the loop, Block and Terminate.
See each step of the ladderTERM 05
Neurosymbolic detection
Detection that combines rules, behavioral baselines and small language models, correlated across steps, to judge an agent action in real time.
How detection worksTERM 06
Credential holding
A deployment option in which Ackuity holds the agent’s tokens and runs each approved action on its behalf, so the agent never handles the credentials.
When to use credential holdingTERM 07
AI agent kill switch
A control that stops an AI agent before it causes harm. Most kill switches stop the whole agent; a control switch acts on each action and keeps termination for catastrophic cases.
What is an AI agent kill switch?TERM 08
Agent sandbox
An isolated environment, such as a container or virtual machine, that limits what an agent process can reach. NVIDIA OpenShell is one example.
What is NVIDIA OpenShell?TERM 09
Sidecar
Ackuity’s open source component that runs in the agent’s pod and checks every action, with traffic rerouted by an init container and no change to agent code.
How the sidecar deploys
NEXT STEP
See the terms in action.
Show us the agents you run, and we’ll walk you through how Ackuity checks their actions.