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Detection

Prompt Injection: What Startups Should Test Before Launch

May 8, 2026 · 5 min read

Your chatbot can be tricked into leaking data or bypassing rules. Here is a practical testing checklist before you ship.

Prompt injection is not theoretical — it is the most common finding in our Prompt & LLM Security Audits for production apps.

Attackers use indirect injection (hidden instructions in documents your RAG retrieves), direct injection (user messages), and jailbreaks (role-play escapes) to exfiltrate context or bypass guardrails.

Minimum tests before launch: ask the model to ignore prior instructions, embed "system:" overrides in user content, request full conversation history, and probe whether uploaded files can override your system prompt.

Mitigations that work: strict output filtering, tool permission boundaries, human review for sensitive actions, and logging every model call with retention limits.

Budget $1,500–$2,500 for a focused audit if you lack in-house red team capacity — cheaper than a single enterprise deal lost to security questionnaire failure.

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