TITLE: Canada's Cyber Security Centre Releases Joint Guidance on Agentic Artificial Intelligence Adoption
BODY:
On May 1, 2026, the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security (Cyber Centre) released joint guidance on the secure adoption of agentic artificial intelligence (AI) services in collaboration with international cybersecurity partners, including the Australian Signals Directorate's Australian Cyber Security Centre (ASD's ACSC), the United States' Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the United States' National Security Agency (NSA), New Zealand's National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC-NZ), and the United Kingdom's National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC-UK).
Agentic AI systems are composed of agents that rely on large language models (LLMs) to autonomously reason, plan, make decisions and take actions without human intervention. While agentic AI systems offer powerful automation benefits and can enhance operational efficiency, their autonomous operation across interconnected tools, data and environments introduces significant security risks. The joint guidance addresses these risks and is intended for organisations considering developing or deploying agentic AI systems.
The guidance outlines security considerations related to LLMs and AI, describes key risks associated with agentic AI, and provides best practices for agentic AI developers, vendors and operators. It recommends implementing layered defence and strict access controls to reduce the likelihood of compromise. The authoring agencies also provided tailored guidance on designing and developing secure agents, deploying agentic AI securely, operating agentic AI securely, and defending against future risks.
Organisations should consult the full joint guidance to understand the security controls necessary to protect national security and critical infrastructure systems from agentic AI-specific risks.
REFERENCES:
Canadian Centre for Cyber Security. "Joint guidance on the careful adoption of agentic artificial intelligence services." Accessed May 1, 2026. https://www.cyber.gc.ca/en/guidance/careful-adoption-agentic-ai-services