Ideally, Janca said, developers should harden their build environment, so they don’t ship debug information/features with production. She offered these tips to developers:
- disable source maps in the build/bundler tool;
- add the .maps file to the .npmignore / package.json files field to explicitly exclude it, even if it was generated during the build by accident;
- exclude the .maps files from the list of published artifacts in the continuous integration/continuous deployment environment;
- carefully separate debug builds from production builds if there are differences; even the comments could be incredibly sensitive.
A critical layer
Any exposure of source code or system-level logic is significant, because it shows how controls are implemented, commented Dan Schiappa, president of technology and services at Arctic Wolf. With this information exposed, the number of people who now understand how the model enforces behavior, manages access, and handles edge cases increases, he said.
“In AI systems, that layer is especially critical,” he added. “The orchestration, prompts, and workflows effectively define how the system operates. If those are exposed, it can make it easier to identify weaknesses or manipulate outcomes. Knowing that attackers are still discovering the most optimal ways to leverage AI means that in any instance where a tool could be compromised, there are likely cybercriminals waiting in the wings.”
