The Promptware Kill Chain: How Prompt Injections Gradually Evolved Into a Multi-Step Malware (Jan 20

Описание: Title: The Promptware Kill Chain: How Prompt Injections Gradually Evolved Into a Multi-Step Malware (Jan 2026)
Link: http://arxiv.org/abs/2601.09625v1
Date: January 2026

Summary:
This paper proposes that attacks on LLM-based applications constitute a distinct class of malware termed 'promptware' and introduces a five-stage kill chain model to analyze them. Arguing that 'prompt injection' describes only the initial access phase, the authors map out a comprehensive attack lifecycle including Privilege Escalation (jailbreaking), Persistence (memory and retrieval poisoning), Lateral Movement (propagation across users and systems), and Actions on Objective. The framework aims to provide security practitioners with a structured methodology for threat modeling complex, multi-step attacks on autonomous AI agents.

Key Topics:
Promptware
Kill Chain Framework
Prompt Injection
Privilege Escalation
Persistence Mechanisms
Lateral Movement
RAG Poisoning
LLM Security

Chapters:
00:00 - Introduction to Promptware
00:50 - The Kill Chain Framework
01:23 - The Core Architectural Vulnerability
03:07 - Defining the Promptware Payload
03:37 - Stage 1: Initial Access
05:21 - Stage 2: Privilege Escalation
06:45 - Stage 3: Persistence Mechanisms
08:52 - Stage 4: Lateral Movement
10:32 - Stage 5: Actions on Objective
11:59 - Case Study: Agent Flare
13:02 - Strategic Value of Modeling
14:05 - Defensive Strategies and Containment

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