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What is blast radius?

Glossary · AI agent and machine identity security

Short answer

Blast radius is how much a single compromised or misused identity can affect.

Why it matters

The smaller the radius, the smaller the incident. Shared accounts and broad roles make it large.

It is a useful way to compare identities: two agents with the same task can have very different radii.

What it looks like

A stolen key that only reads one bucket has a small radius. A key attached to an administrator role has a large one.

In nerl0

nerl0 shows what an identity can reach, which is the data behind the blast radius question. It does not predict whether anyone will use that access. See Security Graph.

Related terms

Agent Reach · Least privilege · Standing privilege