Parano Sandbox
A developer environment with multi-layer control over what leaves the machine
One compromised npm package, one manipulated instruction for an AI agent — and the organisation loses production keys, source code, client data. Traditional antivirus won't detect it because the code is signed and comes from trusted sources. Parano Sandbox isolates the work environment and inspects every byte leaving the machine.
Problem
AI agents (Claude, Cursor, Copilot) install packages, execute commands and connect to APIs — each of these actions is a potential attack vector. Supply chain attacks on popular packages, prompt injection in task descriptions, phishing editor extensions — none of these scenarios are detected by traditional security tools. Effective defence requires environment isolation and outbound traffic inspection.
Solution
The developer or AI agent works inside a local virtual machine — installing packages, building, testing, calling APIs. Every outbound connection passes through six independent control layers. In parallel, four monitoring layers observe the machine from the inside — if a process attempts to read an SSH key, the system terminates it before the file is opened.
Six layers of outbound traffic control
- 01
Domain allowlist
Connections to unlisted addresses are rejected. Write operations to public package registries (npm, PyPI, NuGet) are blocked.
- 02
HTTPS inspection
Encrypted traffic is unwrapped at the proxy, analysed and re-encrypted. Certificate generated in memory on each boot.
- 03
Key and token scanner
Pattern recognition for AWS, GitHub, OpenAI, Anthropic, SSH and dozens of other provider keys. Detection in outbound traffic triggers immediate blocking.
- 04
Fast AI model (Prompt Guard)
Meta Prompt Guard at ~50 ms latency — real-time detection of AI agent manipulation attempts.
- 05
Deep AI model (Llama Guard)
Meta Llama Guard 3 — detection of obfuscated data exfiltration attempts and hidden instructions in code comments.
- 06
Transfer limits
Outbound data volume control. Anomalies in transfer size or frequency generate alerts and blocks.
Advantages over cloud-based solutions
- Encrypted traffic inspection with AI analysis
- Not just domain filtering — full content analysis of encrypted connections by two independent models.
- Ephemeral filesystem
- All virtual machine content is volatile. Malware cannot survive a reboot.
- Cryptographic keys outside the VM
- Secrets injected from host memory on demand and never written to the virtual machine's disk.
- Dynamically generated security tests
- A different attack scenario is generated on each boot. Static exceptions cannot bypass the tests.
Comparison with alternatives
| Capability | Parano Sandbox | Amazon AgentCore | Google Agent Sandbox | microsandbox |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Encrypted HTTPS inspection | Yes | No | No | No |
| Key and token scanner | Yes | No | No | No |
| AI-powered content analysis | Yes (2 models) | No | No | No |
| Package filtering before installation | Yes (5 stages) | No | No | No |
| Ephemeral filesystem | Yes | Partial | Partial | No |
| Central security policy | Yes (git repository) | Partial | Partial | No |
| Data stays on developer machine | Yes | No | No | Yes |
| Offline / air-gap operation | Yes | No | No | Yes |
| Infrastructure costs | None (existing hardware) | Per vCPU/h | Per vCPU/h | None |
Central fleet management
- Security policy in a git repository
- All configuration in one repository with a company → team → developer hierarchy. Developers can add project domains but cannot remove anything from the corporate list.
- Approved package lists with pinned versions
- Packages not on the list or at a different version are blocked at install time. Central control over what reaches developer machines.
- Updates with canary and automatic rollback
- First 5 machines get the update early. If anything fails, the rest of the fleet is not updated. Rolling back requires a single commit.
- Corporate certificates and internal registries
- Corporate certificate deployed automatically to all tools. npm install routed to your Nexus/Artifactory instead of the public internet.
- Locked critical settings
- Settings like HTTPS inspection or public registry blocking cannot be disabled locally by the developer. Attempts result in a boot error.
- Signed configuration
- Configuration repository verified by digital signature. Even after intercepting network traffic, an attacker cannot substitute their own policy version.
Let's talk about developer environment security
We'll show you how multi-layer outbound traffic inspection protects against supply chain attacks and data exfiltration by AI agents.
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