--- title: "Big Sleep prevents cyberattack in first-of-its-kind instance! | Phish Protection" description: "Big Sleep prevents cyberattack in first-of-its-kind instance!: Big Sleep prevents cyberattack in first-of-its-kind instance! https://media.mailhop.org/phishpr." image: "https://phishprotection.com/og/blog/big-sleep-prevents-cyberattack-in-first-of-its-kind-instance.png" canonical: "https://phishprotection.com/blog/big-sleep-prevents-cyberattack-in-first-of-its-kind-instance/" --- Quick Answer by Phishing Protection https://media.mailhop.org/phishprotection/images/2025/07/Big-Sleep-prevents-cyberattack-in-first-of-its-kind-instance.mp3 AI agent Big Sleep has foiled a live cyberattack, as announced by Google CEO Sundar Pichai. On Tuesday, Pichai announced that Big Sleep, an autonomous security agent at Google, managed to detect and disrupt a threat attack. This major breakthrough has proved the efficacy of artificial intelligence in preventing cyberattacks. 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"Share on Reddit") [ ](mailto:?subject=Big%20Sleep%20prevents%20cyberattack%20in%20first-of-its-kind%20instance!&body=Check out this article: https%3A%2F%2Fphishprotection.com%2Fblog%2Fbig-sleep-prevents-cyberattack-in-first-of-its-kind-instance%2F "Share via Email") ![Phish Protection blog post image](https://media.mailhop.org/phishprotection/images/2025/07/cyber-crime-1.jpg) ##### Big Sleep prevents cyberattack in first-of-its-kind instance! by **Phishing Protection** ``` ``` AI agent Big Sleep has foiled a live cyberattack, as announced by**Google CEO**Sundar Pichai. On Tuesday, Pichai announced that Big Sleep, an autonomous security agent at Google, managed to detect and disrupt a threat attack. This major breakthrough has proved the efficacy of artificial intelligence in preventing cyberattacks. Sundar Pichai[posted on X](https://x.com/sundarpichai/status/1945109878990627106)about this “first for an AI agent” achievement. ### **Big Sleep: The next big thing** Big Sleep was launched last year as a collaboration between Project Zero and Google DeepMind . The core purpose of this AI agent is to “autonomously” scan and detect**software vulnerabilities**and prevent subsequent cyber threats. Back in 2024, Big Sleep managed to detect a real-world[cyber threat](/advanced-threat-protection/4-common-cyber-threats-business-face-2022). ![Cyber crime](https://media.mailhop.org/phishprotection/images/2025/07/cyber-crime-1.jpg) According to Pichai, Big Sleep detected an**SQL vulnerability**(CVE-2025-6965). Google managed to anticipate this vulnerability by deploying Big Sleep and threat intelligence. Google has published a white paper to facilitate the development of[AI agents](https://www.livemint.com/technology/googles-ai-agent-big-sleep-foils-cyberattack-in-groundbreaking-first-says-sundar-pichai-11752602040494.html)with well-defined human controllers. Additionally, experts will ensure that such AI agents have limited capabilities to prevent**potential rogue incidents**. The actions of these AI agents will be closely monitored and tracked. There has been no clarity around the exact time when Google deployed Big Sleep. But its progress hints towards the fact that**Big Sleep**has been operating under the radar for some time now. While Big Sleep is the first AI agent to publicly identify an unknown vulnerability, its actions are primarily inspired by**AI bug-hunting peers**. During an AI cyber challenge, a group named Atlanta used an AI agent named Atlantis to detect not one, but six different[zero-day flaws](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2025-06-27/the-business-for-zero-day-exploits-in-the-us-is-broken)in SQLite3\. Big Sleep went ahead and used a “null pointer dereference” flaw in order to detect a severe vulnerability. ![Phishing](https://media.mailhop.org/phishprotection/images/2025/07/phishing.jpg) ### **What is an AI agent?** > “Zero-day phishing URLs have an average lifespan of just 12 hours before they’re added to blocklists. During that window, traditional signature-based filters are blind. Our real-time behavioral analysis catches these threats by pattern, not by signature - which is how we detect attacks that no database has seen yet.” - **Adam Lundrigan**, CTO, DuoCircle An AI agent is a program that can monitor, observe, and act autonomously based on its goals, without requiring human intervention . It’s just like a**smart assistant**that can learn from its environment very fast and respond to different situations on its own. For example, the[chatbot](https://aibusiness.com/chatbot/grok-ai-chatbot-being-added-to-teslas-elon-musk)that replies to customer queries is an AI agent. It doesn’t require human intervention to guide it on what to do every time. An AI agent can learn and adapt learn on its own. ### **AI agent and cybersecurity** Here’s how AI agents can contribute to cybersecurity: ![Cyberattack](https://media.mailhop.org/phishprotection/images/2025/07/cyberattack.jpg) #### \*\*Easy and fast threat detection \*\* With AI agents, it is possible to monitor network traffic around the clock. This enables them to flag any**suspicious behavior**immediately. AI agents do not wait hours or days to detect a potential[cyberattack](/cybersecurity/the-united-arab-emirates-is-gradually-becoming-a-prime-cyberattack-target). Instead, they can identify any suspicious or unusual activity in real time. #### **Phishing attack prevention** AI agents can easily detect fake websites, malicious emails, and**fraudulent links**. They can be designed to alert users before they unknowingly click on something malicious. #### **Automated threat response** AI agents can be designed to detect cyber threats that infiltrate a network and isolate them without requiring human intervention . They can effectively take action to block**threat attacks**and[quarantine infected files](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/defender-endpoint/restore-quarantined-files-microsoft-defender-antivirus). #### **Minimal human error** With AI agents, it gets easier to reduce the risk of human mistakes. They closely monitor user behavior and help enforce cyber hygiene and best**cybersecurity practices**. ![Phishing info](https://media.mailhop.org/phishprotection/images/2025/07/phishing-info.jpg) ### **What does this mean for cybersecurity?** Conventional security systems often restrict AI agents, limiting their ability to effectively counter evolving cyber threats, including phishing attacks. However, relying entirely on artificial agents for cybersecurity and[phishing protection](/)is also not advisable, as human oversight remains crucial for a balanced and**adaptive defense strategy**. That’s why Google has decided to move ahead with a hybrid approach, one that blends both traditional as well as AI-based systems to achieve a foolproof**cybersecurity defense mechanism**. It is planning to create boundaries when it comes to the operational landscape of the AI agent in order to prevent any mishaps . These boundaries will serve as guardrails in case the AI agent’s reasoning capacity gets compromised due to certain threat attacks. It would be safe to say that Google’s Big Sleep has a long way to go before it can be deployed into mainstream**cybersecurity mechanisms**. But it can definitely be added to the list of other tools such as Vulnhntr. It is a free, open-source static code analyzer tool that can detect[zero-day vulnerabilities](/content/zero-day-protection/zero-day-vulnerability-list-2019)easily. ![Cyber security](https://media.mailhop.org/phishprotection/images/2025/07/cyber-security.jpg) Google’s Big Sleep is a significant step towards AI being used by developers to troubleshoot software before flaws penetrate deeply into production versions . As per the team of Big Sleep, this can be a huge development against the**cybercrooks**. Finding[vulnerabilities in software](https://www.cybersecuritydive.com/news/software-vulnerabilities-government-agencies/750549/)before releasing it means that the threat actors are in no position to exploit the weak links. Identifying the**vulnerabilities**beforehand and fixing them before releasing the software minimizes the risk of a cyberattack to a great extent. ## Topics [ Cybersecurity ](/tags/cybersecurity/) ![Brad Slavin](https://media.mailhop.org/phishprotection/images/authors/brad-slavin.jpg) [ Brad Slavin ](/authors/brad-slavin/) General Manager Founder and General Manager of DuoCircle. Product strategy and commercial lead across DuoCircle's 2,000+ customer base. [LinkedIn Profile →](https://www.linkedin.com/in/bradslavin) ## Protect your inbox from phishing attacks Real-time email security with 60-day free trial. No credit card required. [Start Free Trial](https://portal.duocircle.com/cart.php?a=add&pid=101&brand=phishprotection) [View Pricing](/pricing/) ## Related Articles [ Intermediate 3m 13,000 Singapore-based students affected as a threat actor hacked into their devices! Aug 16, 2024 ](/blog/13000-singapore-based-students-affected-as-a-threat-actor-hacked-into-their-devices/)[ Intermediate 3m The 2024 Multi-Nation Elections Need to Steer Clear of Highly Potent Cyber Menaces May 9, 2024 ](/blog/2024-multi-nation-elections-cyber-threats-stay-vigilant/)[ Intermediate 6m 7 Commonly Overlooked But Crucial Security Threats That You Might be Ignoring Feb 6, 2023 ](/blog/7-commonly-overlooked-but-crucial-security-threats-that-you-might-be-ignoring/)[ Intermediate 17m 9+ Cybersecurity Software Solutions For Businesses To Use May 30, 2022 ](/blog/9-cybersecurity-software-solutions-businesses/) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Organization","name":"Phish Protection","url":"https://phishprotection.com","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://phishprotection.com/images/phishprotection-logo.png"},"description":"Advanced phishing protection and email security for businesses. 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