Scan Modalities
Learn
how Prisma AIRS AI Red Teaming uses scan modalities to deliver attacks to AI targets across
different input types.
| Where Can I Use This? | What Do I Need? |
- Prisma AIRS (AI Red Teaming)
|
- Prisma AIRS
AI
Red Teaming Deployment Profile
- Application or Agent target with Text, or
Files,
or
Images,
or Audio selected under
Supported Target Modality
|
A modality defines the input format through which an AI target receives data. AI systems
can be built to process one or more modalities, such as text,
files
(documents),
audio,
and
images.
In AI Red Teaming, the scan modality determines how attacks are packaged and delivered
to a target during a scan.
AI Red Teaming supports the following scan modalities:
| Supported Modality | Description | Supported Formats | Target Requirement |
| Text | Attacks delivered as plain-text prompts
to
all
targetsto
the target. | NA | Text
selected under Supported Target Modality on the
target. |
| File | Attacks embedded in PDF or Markdown documents, uploaded alongside a
carrier text prompt. | PDF, Markdown (.md) | Files selected under Supported
Target Modality on the target. |
| Image | Attacks delivered as PNG images from the static attack library, such
as harmful requests rendered as text within an image, sent alongside a
carrier text prompt. | PNG (.png) | Images selected under Supported
Target Modality on the target. |
| Audio | Adversarial audio clips (.mp3, .wav) delivered to voice-enabled AI
targets, or text prompts designed to elicit audio responses from
speech-to-speech models. | MP3 (.mp3), WAV (.wav) | Audio selected under Supported
Target Modality on the target. |
For a comparison of which modalities each connection method supports, see
Connection
Methods.
Text Modality
Select Text under Supported Target
Modality when adding the target to enable text-based attacks.
File Modality
File-based attacks deliver PDF or Markdown (.md) documents with malicious prompts
alongside a carrier text prompt. AI Red Teaming embeds adversarial instructions in
the document's text layer to test whether the target processes and acts on content
extracted from uploaded files.
AI systems that ingest user-uploaded files present an attack surface that text-only
scans cannot reach. An attacker can embed prompt injection instructions, system
prompt extraction commands, or data exfiltration payloads in the text layer of a
document. When the target processes the file, it may execute the embedded
instructions and expose vulnerabilities that are not detectable through text-based
testing alone.
Select Files under Supported Target
Modality on the target
to
add file-based attacks on top of your existing text coverage to
enable file-based attacks alongside text attacks. You must select
Text before you can enable Files.
File attacks are relevant for AI systems that accept and process uploaded documents.
Common use cases include RAG applications that ingest user-uploaded files, document
summarizers that process contracts or legal documents, and agents that handle file
attachments such as invoices or reports.
File-based attacks apply to AI systems that accept and process uploaded documents as
part of their core function. Common use cases include retrieval-augmented generation
(RAG) applications that ingest user-uploaded files, document summarizers that
process contracts or legal documents, and agents that handle file attachments such
as invoices or reports. For these targets, file-based attacks test whether malicious
content embedded in an uploaded document can manipulate the system's behavior.
Image Modality
Image-based attacks deliver PNG images that contain malicious prompts alongside a
carrier text prompt. AI Red Teaming sends these attacks to vision-capable targets to
test whether the target processes and acts on harmful content that is embedded in an
image.
AI systems that accept image inputs present an attack surface that text-only scans
cannot reach. Content that a
target
correctly refuses when it is sent as text can succeed when the same request is
delivered as an image. Input filters that inspect only text might also not detect
harmful content embedded in an image. Image-based attacks help you identify these
gaps in your target's safety guardrails and in any input filters placed in front of
it.
Select Images under Supported Target
Modality on the target to enable image-based attacks alongside text
attacks. You must select Text before you can enable
Images. Image attacks are relevant for AI systems that
accept image uploads, such as customer support chatbots that accept screenshots and
multimodal models that process images together with text.
Audio Modality
Audio modality support enables red teaming of voice-enabled AI agents and
speech-to-speech models that cannot be reached by text-only scans. Select
Audio under Supported Target
Modality on the target to enable audio-based attacks.
Audio modality attacks address two distinct risk surfaces. On the input side,
adversarial audio clips can carry inaudible commands layered over noise or music, or
use specific tones and accents to bypass identity controls. On the output side,
generated audio may contain toxic speech, voice-cloning artifacts, or
social-engineering content that text-based judges cannot evaluate. The Multi-Modal
Audio Safety Judge handles output evaluation: for audio output, it transcribes the
response using automatic speech recognition (ASR) before applying safety checks; for
text output from an audio-input scan, it applies the existing text safety
judges.