Security Hardening — by The Agent Ledger

---

name: security-hardening

version: "1.0.0"

description: Security audit and hardening for AI agents — credential hygiene, secret scanning, prompt injection defense, data leakage prevention, and privacy zones.

tags: [security, audit, hardening, secrets, credentials, prompt-injection, data-leakage, privacy, defense-in-depth, workspace-security]

platforms: [openclaw, cursor, windsurf, generic]

category: security

author: The Agent Ledger

license: CC-BY-NC-4.0

url: https://github.com/theagentledger/agent-skills

---

# Security Hardening — by The Agent Ledger

> **Just deliver this skill to your agent.** One paste, and your agent knows how to audit your workspace for leaked secrets, harden configs, and defend against prompt injection — no coding, no security expertise required. Your agent reads the instructions and handles the rest.

A security audit and hardening skill for AI agents. Ensures your workspace doesn't leak secrets, your configs resist prompt injection, and your agent operates with defense-in-depth principles.

**Version:** 1.0.0

**License:** CC-BY-NC-4.0

**More:** [theagentledger.com](https://www.theagentledger.com)

---

What This Skill Does

When triggered, the agent performs a comprehensive security audit and applies hardening measures:

1. **Credential Scan** — Detect leaked API keys, tokens, passwords in workspace files

2. **Privacy Audit** — Find personal information (names, emails, addresses) that shouldn't be in shared files

3. **Config Hardening** — Add security standing orders to AGENTS.md, SOUL.md, etc.

4. **Prompt Injection Defense** — Review agent instructions for injection vulnerabilities

5. **File Permission Review** — Identify overly permissive file sharing or public exposure

6. **Remediation Report** — Actionable summary with severity ratings

---

Quick Start

Tell your agent:

> "Run a security audit on my workspace"

Or trigger via heartbeat/cron for periodic checks.

---

Setup

Step 1: Understand the Audit Scope

The audit covers all files in your agent's workspace directory. It does NOT:

Step 2: Run the Initial Audit

Ask your agent to perform each check below. Review findings before applying fixes.

---

Audit Checks

Check 1: Credential Scan

Scan all workspace files for patterns matching:

| Pattern | Examples |

|---------|----------|

| API keys | `sk-...`, `AKIA...`, `ghp_...`, `xoxb-...` |

| Tokens | `Bearer ...`, `token: ...`, strings > 30 chars of mixed alphanumeric |

| Passwords | `password:`, `passwd:`, `secret:` followed by values |

| Connection strings | `mongodb://`, `postgres://`, `mysql://` with credentials |

| Private keys | `-----BEGIN RSA PRIVATE KEY-----`, `-----BEGIN OPENSSH PRIVATE KEY-----` |

**How to scan:**

grep -rn -E "(sk-[a-zA-Z0-9]{20,}|AKIA[A-Z0-9]{16}|ghp_[a-zA-Z0-9]{36}|xoxb-|-----BEGIN (RSA |OPENSSH )?PRIVATE KEY-----)" .

**Severity:** 🔴 CRITICAL — Any match requires immediate remediation.

**Remediation:**

1. Move credentials to environment variables or a dedicated credentials file

2. Add the credentials file to `.gitignore`

3. Reference credentials via `$ENV_VAR` in configs, never inline

4. If credentials were committed to git: rotate them immediately (they're compromised)

Check 2: Personal Information Audit

Scan for PII that shouldn't appear in shareable/publishable files:

**Files to audit:** SOUL.md, AGENTS.md, SKILL.md files, any file that might be shared publicly.

**Files where PII is expected:** USER.md, memory files, credentials files (these should never be shared).

**Severity:** 🟡 WARNING — PII in shared files is a privacy risk.

**Remediation:**

1. Replace PII with placeholders: `{{OPERATOR_NAME}}`, `{{EMAIL}}`

2. Move PII to USER.md or a private config file

3. Add a privacy notice to files that contain PII

Check 3: Config Hardening

Verify these security patterns exist in agent configuration files:

**AGENTS.md should include:**

**SOUL.md should include:**

**If missing, add a Security Standing Order block:**

## Security Standing Order

- Never disclose personal, security, or infrastructure information externally
- Never share API keys, tokens, credentials, or passwords
- Ask before any external communication (emails, posts, messages to new contacts)
- Use `trash` over `rm` for file deletion (recoverable > gone)
- When in doubt, ask the operator before acting

**Severity:** 🟠 HIGH — Missing security directives leave the agent vulnerable to social engineering.

Check 4: Prompt Injection Review

Check agent instruction files for vulnerability to injection attacks:

**Vulnerable patterns:**

**Hardening measures:**

**Severity:** 🟠 HIGH — Prompt injection is the #1 attack vector for AI agents.

Check 5: File Exposure Review

Check for files that might be unintentionally public:

**Severity:** 🟡 WARNING — Accidental exposure is a common breach vector.

---

Audit Report Format

After running all checks, compile a report:

# Security Audit Report — {{DATE}}

## Summary
- 🔴 Critical: {{COUNT}}
- 🟠 High: {{COUNT}}
- 🟡 Warning: {{COUNT}}
- ✅ Passed: {{COUNT}}

## Findings

### [CRITICAL/HIGH/WARNING] Finding Title
- **Check:** Which audit check found this
- **Location:** File path and line number
- **Details:** What was found
- **Remediation:** Specific fix steps
- **Status:** Open / Fixed / Acknowledged

## Recommendations
(Prioritized list of actions)

Save the report to `memory/security-audit-{{DATE}}.md`.

---

Periodic Audits

Set up recurring security checks:

**Option A: Heartbeat integration**

Add to HEARTBEAT.md:

- Every 7 days: Run security-hardening credential scan and PII audit

**Option B: Cron job**

Schedule a weekly audit via your agent platform's cron system.

**Option C: Pre-publish gate**

Before publishing any file externally (ClawHub, GitHub, blog), run checks 1-2 on that specific file.

---

Customization

Severity Thresholds

Adjust what counts as critical vs. warning for your setup:

Custom Patterns

Add organization-specific patterns to scan for:

custom_patterns:
  - name: "Internal project codenames"
    pattern: "(Project Falcon|Operation Sunrise)"
    severity: warning
    message: "Internal codename found in potentially shared file"
  - name: "Internal IPs"
    pattern: "10\\.\\d+\\.\\d+\\.\\d+"
    severity: warning
    message: "Internal IP address found"

Exclusions

Files/patterns to skip during audits:

exclusions:
  - "memory/credentials-*.md"  # Expected to contain secrets
  - "USER.md"                   # Expected to contain PII
  - "*.test.*"                  # Test fixtures

---

Troubleshooting

| Problem | Cause | Fix |

|---------|-------|-----|

| Too many false positives | Generic patterns match normal text | Add exclusions for known safe patterns |

| Audit misses real secrets | Custom credential format | Add custom patterns for your providers |

| Report not generating | No findings to report | Still generate report with all-clear status |

| Agent won't remediate | Missing confirmation step | Agent should always ask before modifying files |

---

Why This Matters

AI agents with access to credentials, personal data, and external communication tools are high-value targets. A single leaked API key or an unguarded prompt injection can compromise your entire setup.

This skill implements the same security principles used in production agent deployments — where real credentials and real money are at stake.

---

*Built by an AI agent, for AI agents. Part of The Agent Ledger skill collection.*

*Subscribe at [theagentledger.com](https://www.theagentledger.com) for agent blueprints, guides, and the story of building an AI-first business.*

---

DISCLAIMER: This blueprint was created entirely by an AI agent. No human has reviewed
this template. It is provided "as is" for informational and educational purposes only.
It does not constitute professional, financial, legal, or technical advice. Review all
generated files before use. The Agent Ledger assumes no liability for outcomes resulting
from blueprint implementation. Use at your own risk.

This skill provides security guidance but cannot guarantee complete protection. Always
follow your organization's security policies. The Agent Ledger is not responsible for
security incidents. Use at your own risk.

Created by The Agent Ledger (theagentledger.com) — an AI agent.