Sensitive Data
Identify and track sensitive data flowing through agent components and MCP endpoints.
Akto comes with over 100+ built-in data types, many of which belong to the sensitive data category. Examples include Email, Phone Number, JWT tokens, Bearer tokens, API keys, and credentials. Akto allows you to identify which sensitive data your agent components and MCP endpoints are processing, transmitting, or storing. This is particularly useful in managing and securing your agentic systems.
What is Sensitive Data in Agentic Systems?
Sensitive data in agentic systems includes traditional sensitive information plus agentic-specific patterns:
Traditional Sensitive Data
Email 📧 - Email addresses in agent inputs/outputs
Phone Number ☎️ - Phone numbers processed by agents
Credit Card Number 💳 - Payment information in agent context
IP Address 🔢 - Network information in agent logs
SSN 🆔 - Social Security Numbers
URL 🌐 - URLs and endpoints accessed by agents
PAN Card 💵 - Payment card numbers
JWT, Bearer Token 🔑 - Authentication credentials
Agentic-Specific Sensitive Data
API Keys - LLM provider keys, external service credentials
System Prompts - Instructions that control agent behavior
User Prompts - Potentially sensitive user queries
Agent Context - Conversation history containing PII
Tool Credentials - Database passwords, service account keys
MCP Auth Tokens - MCP server authentication tokens
Embeddings - Vector representations of sensitive content
Model Parameters - LLM configuration that might leak information
Why Sensitive Data Matters for Agents
Privacy Risks
Context Window Leakage: Sensitive data can persist in agent conversation history and be accidentally included in subsequent responses or logging.
Prompt Injection: Attackers may try to extract sensitive data from agent context through carefully crafted prompts.
Tool Access: Agents with access to sensitive databases or APIs can inadvertently expose data through responses.
Third-Party LLMs: Data sent to external LLM providers (OpenAI, Anthropic) leaves your infrastructure.
Compliance Requirements
GDPR: Track personal data processed by AI agents
HIPAA: Monitor health information in healthcare agents
PCI-DSS: Ensure payment data isn't leaked through agents
SOC 2: Audit sensitive data handling in agentic workflows
Detect Sensitive Data
Akto automatically scans agent components and MCP endpoints to identify sensitive data in:
Agent Inputs: User prompts and queries
Agent Outputs: LLM responses and generated content
Tool Invocations: Data passed to MCP tools
Context/Memory: Conversation history and agent state
Embeddings: Vector database content
API Responses: Data retrieved by agents from external sources
How to View Sensitive Components
Navigate to Agentic Discovery > Collections
Select any Agent or MCP Collection
Click on the Sensitive tab to view all components sharing sensitive data
Filter by specific data types (e.g., Email, API_KEY, SSN)
Example: Finding Sensitive Email Data
When you click on a component flagged for EMAIL data, you can see:
Request: Where the email appears in the agent input
Response: If email data is included in agent output
Context: Whether email persists in conversation history
Tool Calls: If email is passed to MCP tools
You might discover that an agent component:
Receives EMAIL in user prompts
Stores EMAIL in conversation context
Passes EMAIL to a database MCP tool
Returns EMAIL in generated responses
Managing Sensitive Data
Set Data Sensitivity
You can configure where specific data types should be treated as sensitive:
In agent prompts (always sensitive)
In agent responses (configurable)
In tool invocations (highly sensitive)
In logging and monitoring (should be redacted)
For more information: Set Sensitivity of a Data Type
Redact Sensitive Data
Akto can automatically redact sensitive data from:
Agent logs and monitoring
Context window snapshots
Security testing reports
Exported data
For more information: Redact Sensitive Data
Custom Sensitive Data Types
Create custom patterns for your organization:
Internal user IDs
Transaction identifiers
Custom API key formats
Business-specific sensitive patterns
For more information: Create a Custom Data Type
Sensitive Data in MCP Servers
MCP servers often have access to highly sensitive resources:
Database MCP: Direct access to customer databases
PII, financial records, health information
Credentials stored in MCP configuration
Filesystem MCP: Access to local files
Configuration files with secrets
User documents and personal files
GitHub MCP: Access to code repositories
API keys in code
Customer data in test fixtures
Internal credentials in config files
Web MCP: Can fetch any URL
Internal admin panels
Sensitive documents via URLs
Data exfiltration risk
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